A Year of Gratitude – April 16, 2024
A memory gave me a reason to feel grateful today. It wasn’t my memory. Or, at least it wasn’t solely my memory. It was a shared memory. Perhaps that made the memory even sweeter.
It was warmer than usual here today. We were even treated to abundant sunshine. After all of the rainy, dreary weather of late, that was reason enough to be grateful.
After a nice long walk with Penny Lane, we returned home to the farmhouse. The house felt warm. After the cold winter months, that was another reason to be grateful. And I was.
The warmth and sunshine led to a conversation with my children about their fond memories of me making them homemade Orange Julius smoothies when they were younger. It was something I hadn’t thought about in a good while.
I had made those drinks for them when they were little because I had my own childhood memories of Orange Julius shared with my mom. She used to take me to one in Kansas City where I grew up. It was a treat to go there, to place our order and watch as those frothy drinks took shape.
I was so happy to watch today as their faces lit up while they talked to each other about their memories of long summer days spent outside and cold, creamy orange drinks sipped through straws when the daylight was waning and it was nearly time to head inside.
Those were such wonderful days. I knew at the time that they were good days, but I don’t think that I enjoyed them enough. I appreciated them, but I didn’t allow myself to fully be present in the joy of them. I was so busy trying to accomplish tasks, so focused on getting things done and crossing things off my never ending to do list. I wish that I could go back and change that, but I can’t.
The best I can do is try to be present in those moments today. I have a new appreciation for moments like that today. Perhaps it is my age that changed my perspective. Maybe it is the knowledge that the tasks will wait until tomorrow, but time marches on. I’m not sure what it is, I just know that I see those moments very differently now. I see them for the precious resource that they are.
After listening to my children talk so fondly of those memories, there was only one thing for me to do. I got in the car, drove to the local grocery store, and added the ingredients for a batch of Orange Julius smoothies to my basket. I smiled as I drove home, knowing that my children would be happy to gather around our table and share the flavor they had been remembering earlier.
I was right about that. I made up a batch of smoothies and we gathered around our table. I poured the creamy orange drinks into tall glasses and watched as my children took the first sip. Smiles spread across their faces and for a moment, I was back in that moment so many years ago. Instead of being busy with my to do list, I was there, fully immersed in the joy.
If you’re lucky, you get to live a life long enough to learn many lessons. If you’re very lucky, you get to take what you’ve learned and choose to do some things differently. Today, I got to do that while surrounded by the people I love. That was something to feel full of gratitude in the warmest way. As a bonus, there was a delicious, creamy orange smoothie to go along with it.
If you’d like to make your own Orange Julius smoothie, you’ll find two recipes waiting for you right here.
This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.