Gifts, Even One Hard to Receive

1. Sis’s excellent morning coffee.
2. Gentle Yoga class at 9:45 with her at the Greenwich Water Club.
3. Supportive network of moms, dads and caregivers on our street--friendly neighbors.
4. A car that can carry me from Connecticut to Jersey.
5. The excellent, tender gnocchi I bought in Cos Cob at Villa Nuova Italian deli--a welcome-home supper for Punch. Boil frozen for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. From the same place--Italian bread imported from Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Figgy likes good bread and I got some broccoli rabe, too, which even Punch devoured. (That was expensive; I got just half a pound.)
6. Weekly therapy appointment for Punch. That’s the gift that is hard to receive--Dr. G’s observation/assessment can be painful or scary sometimes. But I know it comes from a place of clarity, distance, compassion and wisdom. I guess I might compare it on days like this to a person who hates to clean house being gifted with a bucket and mop? You know, you should use it, but it’s a gift that is hard to receive, a message that is hard to hear. As in: Our family system can use a good house cleaning to improve outcomes for all of us. You can offer us the mop, or tell us where to buy one, but will we know how to use it?

Good night.