tonight's gratitude (oh, boys!)

What a weekend my boys gave me, for no particular reason. No elaborately planned Mother's Day could ever top the experiences I shared with them during the last couple of days. Sam participated in leading the Friday night service at temple, just a little bit, but so sweetly, and then wrapped his arms around me as we were standing to pray together. Saturday, Sam had baseball tryouts, so I took Isaac and two friends (one for each of us) to Yellow Springs, to buy ice cream at Young's Dairy pint sale and then feed the baby goats there. To watch him and Elyse talking to and interacting with the animals was so precious, as were the animals themselves, from the baby calves and kids to the very pregnant mamas.

Saturday night, we took Sam and Isaac to see Max perform in a musical at the high school, and my favorite part was watching all my boys hug each other after the show was over. They congratulated their big brother, so proud of him, and it seemed he really appreciated their being there. Today, after Sunday school and lunch, I took Sam and Isaac to our beautiful Music Hall for a Cincinnati symphony concert. Paavo later explained that the Grieg piano concerto had been, when he conceived of the program, the "Scandanavian sorbet" between two French courses: the Dutilleux 1st symphony and the Bizet 1st Symphony. We heard only the Grieg and the Dutilleux, but that itself was a gift, because the shorter program meant there was no intermission to tempt us with leaving before the concert was over, as we have often done in the past.

One of the boys had the brilliant suggestion, right before the concert began, of our moving up to the empty front balcony and looking down on the stage, which made it possible to answer all their wonderful whispered questions from behind my program, without worrying that I was disturbing any other patrons or distracting the musicians. They told me and asked me such marvelous things, all of which I normally would have prevented them from uttering during a performance. Sam turned to me at one point and said "thank you for bringing us here." Oh, my goodness! Was I that grateful, that thoughtful, when I was nine? I attended a lot of concerts growing up, and I do remember being particularly thrilled to see Yitzhak Perlman at Carnegie Hall at about that age, but did I thank my parents? I hope so, but I am not sure I did. Isaac was even able to lie down on the carpet and stretch out during an adagio movement, without bothering a soul.

Mainly because they had loved sitting right in front of Suzanne Bona last weekend while she played Griffes and Vivaldi with the Seven Hills Sinfonietta, they agreed to stay for the post concert discussion she was moderating between Paavo, the guest soloist, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and the audience. They chose not to ask any questions themselves, but afterwards, said how much they had learned from the questions other people had asked. Afterwards, Suzanne asked Isaac, who takes piano lessons, what orchestra instrument he thought he might want to play, and he said either bassoon, violin, guitar, trombone or piccolo, but he doesn't like instruments that make very loud sounds. As we walked away he said to me, "oops, I forgot to mention flute, but I am also considering that." Duly noted.

Leaving the building, I saw that I had gotten a text from Max, delighted to share the news that he had taken his dad (at my suggestion) to Trader Joe's, so that he would not have to eat at a restaurant for his every meal. Sweet.

On the way home, I was so distracted by Lalo's Symphonie Espanol on the radio that I inadvertantly drove into Kentucky as a little detour. The boys noticed my error as we were crossing the Ohio River and gently pointed it out, both with a great sense of humor, telling me stories about mistakes their Daddy had made, so that I wouldn't be too hard on myself.

We had a great time this evening reading aloud from a crazy wonderful book, after which they were very good about going to bed. I feel so incredibly blessed. You have no idea what gifts these children give me every day, how they help me to see the world with more wonder and joy than I would without them. I go to bed tonight so very grateful to have them here with me.