from the archives: shoe money
one day, back when we were babies and had lived in new york for about two months, i came home from work to find a surprise on the kitchen table.
chip's parents had just come and gone for their first visit to see us in our new city. while here they outfitted their fledglings with new coats and, for chip, a pair of shoes. their sweetness and generosity compelled them to leave money behind for me, for my own pair of shoes since my working had gotten in the way of the shopping. chip's amazing presentation skills (and the flexibility of his graduate program in painting) compelled him to do this with that money left behind for me:
these pictures carry a lot of memories- so many sweet, and a few hard- from that first year of marriage, that first year of brooklyn. but even more, they make me realize that we need more of this in our life. more making the mundane (if you can call money for shoes mundane) something special and celebratory. not overly complicated, but simple. chip is so so good at this. two pieces of paper, some ribbon and rubberbands and my return home from another day of work at an investment firm where i never felt comfortable was pure joy. so much better than a bill just lying on the table (although i certainly wouldn't have complained about that). this is what i'm after with raising my children. and with living life. making the normal, or even less-than-normal things something more. taking the time to celebrate our life. purely and simply, everyday.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at 11:37AM
Reader Comments (15)
that is lovely. we've been trying to capture that same spirit with our kids. today i woke up to find that my husband had left this little surprise for my 3.5 year old who is crazy for the alphabet:
http://jackandgabe.blogspot.com/
amen katie! kind of all we have in life is the mundane, so why not make it great, ya know? you're queen of making the everyday magical.
This post was simply inspiring. I agree wholeheartedly.
I have a great husband like that too! He loves to make all the cakes for birthdays and he decorates them so wonderfully.
On my first birthday with him, he made me this remarkable pop out birthday card.
He is a graphic artist and comes up with lovely things to surprise and delight the family.
What a darling idea for his "shoes". Your guy sounds like mine.
I love this. Thanks Katie.
oh that chip! what a guy!
i remember that first apartment. seeing the pictures made me smile. thanks for that. and thanks for the reminder to make each little moment special. all too often i get stuck just trying to make it THROUGH the moments. i need to try harder to enjoy them and make them special!
A sweet dear moment, a wonderful reminder to make ordinary events, things, moments...extraordinary.
How sweet is that little shoe? And how generous of your inlaws! You lucked out on both accounts.
Hey. Can I just say I love your blog? I do. It's great. You are a very inspiring person to me.
I posted this on my blog (with a link to you of course) so i hope that's ok. Thanks for the reminder so make simple things special.
that's clever. it reminds me of the part in juno when she puts all those tick tacks he loves in his mailbox. it made me want to do little love tricks for mike like that. and naturally, expect them in return! ;-)
Thanks for sharing that! It reminds me to do something like this for my girls. Turn the mundane things in life special. Growing up, my dad worked the graveyard shift, and often in the morning, he'd be asleep when we woke up. My brothers and sister and I found so much joy in a stick of gum and a little note he taped to our bedroom doors.
i have just found your blog. I am sooo loving it.! your children are just beautful!
I just found you today and I skipped around reading different posts all day at work. I just came back to this one and I could tell already that you were an expert at making life beautiful for your family. This post is the sumation of your entire blog. I love it!
How sweet. I remember well the lean times when money for shoes was really appreciated.
That is SO sweet. :) Hugs, Cindy