I have been blessed with two wonderful sons! I don’t mean to brag. I am just telling the truth! :-)
Our youngest is a writer. Matt hasn’t lived in Los Angeles for a long time. He went out of state to college and grad school. With the exception of summer vacations, he hasn’t lived here since. After receiving his Master’s Degree, Matt moved directly to Washington, DC, where he resides to this day.
He is pretty good at keeping in touch and we frequently have long phone conversations. I don’t feel a real separation, but I always like to see him in the flesh, so to speak. As I said, Matt is a writer, and like Mike, he has been very encouraging of my attempts to chronicle my thoughts. Both quite helpful in their own way.
Matt did advise me on his last trip home to be careful of things I might say that could hurt or embarrass someone. In that. once posted on the internet, they will be out there for the world to see. Yet all and all, he has been pretty tolerant of all my many questions and hasn’t reprehended me for anything I have written. I wasn’t even sure if he often took the time to read my blog.
Yet, yesterday a package was delivered to our home. It was addressed to me. Usually I don’t even look at the many boxes that arrive at our door. Pete has a home office, and nearly all the parcels that end up at our address are business related. My task is simply to put them on his desk or let him know there is a big one waiting for him to unpack. But this one caught my eye. It came from Amazon.com, and I didn’t remember ordering anything. I took it into the kitchen and opened it. Inside the box was a gift wrapped package, obviously a book, with a note attached for Pete. A Father’s day present! I put the gift on Pete’s desk for him to find when he returned home.
But before doing that, I noticed that underneath Pete’s gift was another book. This one unwrapped. Attached was a note that said:
To Mom… Hope you enjoy this book.
It’s a great guide to writing freely and ignoring your “inner critic”… Enjoy! Love, Matt
I was touched. Later that night I started to read the book. Titled, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing The Writer Within, by Natalie Goldberg. It contains a foreword by Judith Guest. So far, I love this book! It sounds like a friend giving some simple guidelines to help explore the innate talent that we all possess. The author has a spiritual outlook that speaks to the soul.
This thoughtful present from Matt warms my heart. And again today, I am overwhelmed by feelings of gratitude for my sons. Both cherished gifts from God who have both become wonderful men... I am so lucky!!!
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