Smooshed

I didn’t do it, but I so wanted to.  I wanted to park my car, lie down on the sidewalk, stretch my arms way above my head and see if I could reach all the way across this tiny apartment.  Can you imagine how weird that photo caption would be?  “Woman Measures Width of Apartment Building With Her Body.” Actually, It’s New York – no one would notice.  People would probably just walk over me, or around me without even looking up.

Could it be 8 feet across? How in the world could people squish into it? It reminds me of a project I did in 5th grade – a coloring project.  My wonderful teacher, Mrs. Enger, told us to choose an adjective and then illustrate it.

I chose the word smashing.  Instead of starting with a pencil, I just leapt into magic marker mode.  I got all the way to the ‘h’ when I realized I was gonna run out of room.  I didn’t have time to start over, and I was faced with a problem.  So I just smooshed the word smashing onto my page, and reveled in the irony of it all.

When I started this blog a year ago, I asked my artist daughter if she would illustrate it for me, because I couldn’t draw a recognizable stick figure.  But then, before I sent her the first draft, I just picked up a pad and a pencil, and I tried to draw something that resembled what I saw.  It was pretty laughable, but it was the first step.

Since then, I’ve concentrated more on drawing, and detail.  I’m not a world-class artist, but I’m one with heart.  I love doing it – it is the most fun I ever have.  If you’re wondering what the signature is all about – LYTAM is a code I made up for my kids when they were little.  I used to make their lunches for them every day, and each day I’d write a note for them.  It was often wishing them a happy day, or good luck on their test, or I’m proud of them, and I’d close it with LYTAM, heart and smiley face.  Love You Tons and More, hug and a smile.

When one of my daughters left for college, we came across a huge stack of the love notes and we both teared up as we thought about the impact they had over the years.  A love note in your kids’ lunch box is an easy way to keep the hug going all day long until they return to the safety and comfort of home.

I’m looking forward to continuing that tradition with my sweet grandboy. This weekend he was so busy and so happy…practicing his new, almost without hanging on, walking skills.  My favorite moment was when he got to the bookcase, pulled out a book, and insisted that I hold and read to him.  But wait – it gets better.  Then, when we were getting close to the end of the book, I realized that he had quit turning the pages, and had fallen fast asleep in my arms.  I put down the book, picked him up and hugged him to my chest, and he nestled right in and fell back to sleep.  Heaven. On. Earth.