January 21, 2010

Today the whole family was given a compliment that I'd like to share.

Tom and I have been trying to take a 30-45 minute walk with Ellie and dogs. We've both decided that the walks are enjoyable to all five of us, and help expend extra toddler and puppy energy. Ellie has really started looking forward to these walks because she treats them more as a way to collect sticks and stones and whatever else she find out there, than exercise, like Tom and I do.

Well, during the latter half of our walk, Ellie was walking on her own (we took a stroller with us today), and wasn't really paying attention to where she was walking. She got right in the path of a biker. Luckily there was plenty of time for the biker to stop so there was no harm done. I apologized to the man for Ellie refusing to get out of the way, and eventually she did move. He was laughing through it, telling us it was no problem. Then he complimented us. He told us we had a beautiful family. I don't know why it struck me like it did, but it brought out a sense of pride in what Tom and I have created together.

This man's simple compliment deserves plenty of thanks. He didn't have to compliment us at all. And yet he did. It was heartfelt, and very much appreciated. When a complete stranger can offer you a smile or compliment, it helps you to think that maybe people are more good than "evil" (exchange with selfish, egocentric, quacks, etc).

It reminded me of a compliment, if you will, that an older woman gave us quite a while ago. Long enough that I don't remember when are where it happened, and neither does Tom. Just that it happened. I remember that it was Tom, Ellie and I, and this woman told us that we needed to be photographed as a typical American family. She told us there was a beauty in average and that there was a particular photographer (of course I can't remember his name now) that spent the majority of his career going across the United States looking for and photographing the average American. She said we would've made a great addition to his photography collection. Again, a compliment completely out of the blue. It has stayed with me for this long, and who knows how long it will remain. It was nice to have that feeling of pride over your family.


"When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses."
--Joyce Brothers

Good night.