Sunday, August 21, 2016

A Big Deal

There was a little moment today that is imprinted on my mind.   It only lasted a few seconds, and I doubt anyone else realized what was going on, but I did and for the rest of the day I've thought about it.

Today was a barbeque at our new parish and for the first time in a very long time we decided to go.  Without the food allergies it was an actual possibility.

There was a tent with tables set up under it a short distance away from the school's playground.  We walked the kids halfway to the playground, which is fenced in, and told them to go play while we walked back to grab plates and food. 

We thought that the easiest thing to do would be to get the food and a table and then call them over, letting them get their wiggles out after Mass before we sat down to eat. 

Patch noticed immediately that we weren't over by the playground and came sprinting over to stand in line next to me. 

I had my eyes glued to Maggie while I waited and suddenly I saw her stop and look around and realize that we weren't right there watching her. 

And she turned around and ran back towards the tent.  I watched for a few seconds as she got closer and her eyes swept back and forth through the faces of the people already at the tables, searching for us. I said "Maggie!" and she saw us and Paul walked over and she held his hand and walked to a table and sat down. 

This is huge.  Since Maggie was a tiny baby she would take off and not look back.  When she was ten months old I watched her as she crawled off across a field, to see how far she would go, and she simply kept crawling, totally oblivious to the fact that she was leaving me behind.  When she eloped last summer she didn't seem concerned with being out in the forest on her own. 

She has always seemed to be totally unconcerned with whether the rest of us were coming with her when she was attempting to go out on her own. 

So noticing that we aren't right there with her and coming to look for us is a milestone that felt incredibly far off, not all that long ago. 

I won't be throwing out her GPS anytime soon but still... baby steps!


  1. What an important milestone! It seems that it's been quite a year for Maggie milestones! (She also just gets more and more beautiful... Snow White.) :)

  2. That is so beautiful it made me tear up!

  3. God bless you! God bless you and your whole family! This IS huge. I don't know if Mag will be consistent in this, but that she's there...that she finally is where she will look around for everyone and not elope---what a huge grateful moment this is. Thank you Lord!

    So many positives since you moved, it seems. So many good new things coming to be. Struggles still, yes, but progress, and hope. Thanks be to God: for the healthy birth of a new baby, for allergies disappearing, for a baby that sleeps through the night, for positive test results for James, for the passing of the bar exam and the starting of a new business, and for Maggie turning around and looking for the family, and so many other gifts and blessings! Thank you Lord!

    God bless. ~ Bonnie

  4. Wonderful milestone! HB still has elopement issues although his are mild compared to Maggie's. He only takes off when he's upset and usually at school. Our biggest issue is vocal stemming constantly. His teacher's modified somethings so he can still stem minus the vocal part and not distract others. We have a meeting today about all this and more. Please send a prayer our way. Keeping you in ours.

    Oh, and it's wonderful that the allergies thing has improved since you moved. I wonder if the older house was also triggering Maggie's migraines since you haven't mentioned any major issues with that lately. God is great!

  5. I am teared up as I type this. You're right - this is HUGE.

