kindred spirits

"What a splendid day!...I pity people who aren't born yet for missing it. They may have good days, of course, but they can never have this one" Anne Shirley of Green Gables.

Tuesday (9-2-08) was the anniversary of kindred spirits. 100 years ago "Anne of Green Gables" was published and Anne the feisty, imaginative and kind girl came to life. I love her! L.M. Montgomery was the woman behind the stories of these books which have never been out of print and sold over 50 million copies. I grew up watching the movies on PBS. Last year for Christmas Dan bought me the collection for Christmas.

Anne often spoke of kindred spirits which I liken to a dear and true friend who you can always be yourself with. Anne said, "Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out that there are so many of them in the world". My little girls are two of my kindred spirits. On Tuesday together we had a splendid day. I started the day at 6:00 a.m. with my friend Liz doing yoga in the basement. Then the girls woke up early and wanted to cuddle. Next Lindsay had her three year check up and was so well behaved in the Dr. office. She is growing well and scored 60/60 on her developmental, social and fine motor skills exam. She had one shot and just said "Ouch". I dropped her off at preschool to join Lauren. After school we went to the Peppermint Place. The P.P. is a small candy/treat/ice-cream/gift shop in Alpine. It sits on the corner of Main Street under a few big trees in an adorable cottage. The girls were looking forward to this trip because we haven't been in about six months. Today was a perfect day to go. It felt like autumn with the warm sun and a cool breeze. We each had an ice-cream cone and went outside to enjoy them. We sat under one of the big trees on a bench and the girls danced around and sniffed the blue flowers. The P.P also had gentle music playing on the outside speaker. It was the perfect setting. I told them I was so happy and asked them what made them happy. Lauren said eating ice-cream and Lindsay said gummies and treats. I asked them what other things made them happy. Lauren said the "smiling sun" and her "little people toys". Lindsay's response was "flowers, Barbie and kitty" (a stuffed animal). I told them that Lauren and Lindsay make me happy! This gave Lindsay a cute grin and she started to happily dance around. Lauren smiled, grabbed me by the back of the head and put a big sticky ice-cream kiss on my forehead. What a perfect day.

Unfortunately at the same time somewhere else in the country many people were trying to flee their homes in fear of the hurricane Gustav. Looking at pictures and footage of the many faces was a little depressing. You can tell most of them have lived a rough life and struggled. One boy on his way to saftey was carrying his things in a white garbage bag probably because he does not own luggage. They all looked lost. Luckily the storm downsized and lives were spared. These situations remind me of how good I really have it. I hope I can teach my children to realize the blessings they have and want to serve others. In the mean time I will as often as possible make their childhood one of many "splendid Days." Just like today in Alpine.