1) breathe ~ it has been a breath of fresh air to have someone in the house who takes time to breathe, look around and take the world in. It calms me.
2) EVERYTHING is fun! No matter what the task to be done, the response is "I LOVE......... " Weeding, grocery shopping, washing windows, chopping vegetables or fruit, Julia embraces them all with a joyful heart ~ her joyful heart is contagious.
3) do it now. I'm the queen of "later" or "not now" or "in a little bit". Since Julia has been here, we have made kale chips, picked strawberries and blueberries, made jam and pie, eaten lobster in Maine, been all over New England including the beach in RI, watch several well loved movies, been to concerts and laughed a lot! She has a way of quietly suggesting that "there is no time like the present." I'm learning to say "yes" more often and I'm pretty sure Helen hopes that continues.
4) just get through it whether she is feeling good or not, she has a smile and a positive attitude about everything she does. It is impossible to be around her and not feel hopeful about the future.
5) life options are endless! There are so many things that she is interested in becoming, it is both fun to talk with her about the possibilities and a reminder that even though I'm MUCH older than she is, my options are endless as well. We can always change our path!
Julia has been our transitional object this summer, creating a little bit of a bridge to the fall when we will be down to one child in the house. She has a quieter energy than her cousin Katy, but has filled the hole that Katy left by going to Calumet, with just what we all have needed.
We have a few more days to enjoy this special young woman and I will relish every one of them. Now I'm going to go eat one of the cookies she and Helen baked late last night...
