Sunday, June 15, 2014

Your Heart Will Grow

Ben has told me more than once, "Mama, I love you so much, your heart will grow."

It turns out that he believes this in a literal sense.  At the beach today he showed me a mud ball he had made. In the middle of it, he tucked a small stone.

"Nobody loves this guy enough, so his heart is very small," he told me.  "But when someone loves him, his heart will get bigger and bigger."

He made another mud ball.  He pushed a much bigger rock into the middle.

"See? I loved him, and his heart grew.  That's how it works."

It really made me smile to see the way he thinks of love.

I think I agree with him. The more a person is loved, the more they are capable of giving love.

I have heard that grief is the price you pay for love.  I think that's true too, because if we didn't love, we would have nothing to grieve.

I feel tremendous gratitude for all of the love I have received in my life, and for the love I am lucky enough to give.

Today, I miss my dad, who I was very lucky to have for 36 years of my life.  I think he was the best.  I am also grateful for my husband, who is a wonderful dad to our four kids.  And to all the other dads who have touched my life, and who are, right now, doing the difficult but rewarding job of making little hearts grow, thank you all.  Happy Father's Day.

2 comments:

  1. Ben is such a tender-hearted and wise little guy. He makes my heart grow too! Love your writing as always !

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  2. My heart got bigger reading this. Thank you.

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