Stop and smell the flowers...

As you may have guessed my Republican husband wasn't in as joyful of mood as others around him yesterday. He wasn't overtly grumpy and did listen to some of the inauguration as he worked but let's just say I walked a little on eggshells around him. He gave a smirk, as in a "Maybe there's hope yet for Marci" smirk, when I read about a local elected official who attended the shoethrowing fest at the White House and started ranting about the immaturity of it all. But he knows me, and I know him and neither one of us is going to change the mind of the other. So, as usual when it comes to politics, we called a truce.

In the early evening hours I ran some errands after dropping Sophie off at ballet. As I loaded the groceries into the car I spotted an old friend stepping out of hers. Laurie's was the classroom in which I completed my dissertation research, she is the one I worked with to collaborate between the local school district and the writing project to offer inservice to teachers, her daughter was one of my grad students in reading education at UND, and just this past summer her son married Michelle, our very favorite babysitter. And in November, her husband suddenly died of a heart attack while playing basketball.

I shut the car door, called out and walked across the parking lot to her where we embraced in a hug that meant so much. You see, at Neil's prayer service I didn't give her a hug because there were oh-so-many people waiting in line to console her. I hugged and cried with Heather and Michelle but didn't have an opportunity to speak with Laurie.

In the cold and damp air we spoke and hugged and spoke and even laughed for about ten minutues - then I was off to my car and she walked to her shopping. And on the way home I stopped at the Flower Bug and bought some flowers for my Republican husband. I know the day wasn't an easy one for him, and I'm sure as a small business owner he'll be disappointed and even frustrated in the years to come, but he's here with me and me with him. And we're so lucky to have that.