Dinner with the Lowes

Tonight David and Laurel, my best friend and his wife, came over for dinner! Aside from being a little stressed out because dinner was a little late, it was so fun. Rachel is so good about inviting people over for dinner. They brought their wonderful children and they were both so funny and unique! Zacky is there oldest and he says and does really funny things. He was very curious about our kitties. Unfortunately they are very xenophobic and as a result they hide when strangers come. If they only knew that they are not strangers to us! We couldn't coax them from out from under the bed the whole time they were here. Patrick, as David says, is a destroyer. He walks around getting into EVERYTHING he can! He's a curious kid and he always seems to have an objective in mind. He had an accident and they realized it when he was climbing on our coffee table. As soon as they were done taking care of it, he came right back in in just his diaper and climbed right back onto the coffee table! I thought it was so funny and so entertaining. I love their kids, they're the greatest. David was telling me that his children aren't very much alike at all and they're also so unlike other kids. I hadn't thought of it before, but I've known quite a lot of children and he's right: they are very unique! I hope my children are unique that way too. I'm sure however they are I will love them.

Interacting with his kids and seeing them climbing all over everything, I got excited about having my own kids. As everyone knows, we have a boy on the way and I just can't wait to meet him. Its crazy that I'm finally going to be a father. I've waited so long and wished so much...I'm just really happy.

I had a sad thought today about all the children in the world who don't have anyone to affirm them. Abandoned or with uninvolved parents, my heart nearly broke. I looked at David's kids and just imagined how little they know about how lucky they are. They have loving parents who will do anything for them. Rarer and rarer that becomes. I realized that I mostly am ignorant of how lucky I am as well. My family wasn't perfect, but they were good to me. Kindness was the rule at my house and unkindness was the exception. Why? I'm just really lucky. David was blessed as was laurel and I think it shows in their parenting.

I looked at all the effort David and Laurel put into their kids and it is really inspiring. When they arrived I could tell they had had a hard time getting them to our house. I thought about how absurd it was that we always want to take credit for who we are. Don't get me wrong, I'm about as strong of a supporter of agency as you will ever meet. I truly believe that people can decide how they feel and treat people. But I know that the amount of effort people have put into our lives can show in our comportment. There are exceptions, but when people put genuine effort into us, its good for our souls.

David has put a lot of effort into me. He's a really good friend and I love him. Who I am was/is directly influenced by who he was/is. I am so glad that he found someone as great as laurel. I always wanted David to marry someone who really appreciated him, and I think Laurel does.

Thinking about this, I think how different I am because of the effort Rachel has put into me. I have so many idiosyncrasies that its hardly worth getting into their details. But Rachel bears most of them so patiently. I couldn't ask for a better partner. She loves who I am. I am lucky to be hers. It takes a special girl to love a man as strange as I. You should see.

As we start our family, I can't wait to see what is created when we both put intense effort into our son and then hopefully more to come. I don't know how things will turn out, but I can bet they'll be beautiful.