I came into the house after a long day of picking up pine needles, moving horse panels, cleaning out the gutters, and fire prepping the whole property. We've had so little snow this year so far, and I'm genuinely concerned about another wildfire coming through, so I'm doing everything I can to get this home of ours defensible. I was filthy and tired. Kelton walked by me on his way out to help feed the horses. He turned around, grabbed my arm, and looked at me intently. He exclaimed, "mom, you look absolutely beautiful!" I mean it's hard to have a bad day around here...
I had a horrible nightmare last night. I dreamed that Lochlan had wandered off in the woods and we couldn't find him. We knew that the temperature was going to be 5 degrees and that we had to find him before dark. As darkness descended and we still hadn't found him, panic set in. I woke up and felt the panic still in my heart. Life with Lochlan is incredibly hard, but life with Lochlan is complete because he is in it. I love him so much. My world is whole because he is in it.
As Declan and I drove home from his dentist appointment this morning, we were parked at a stoplight. There was a man holding up a sign which said simply, "Smile". It was 27 degrees outside in the sunshine. The man's nose was running, his face was pink and he was shivering. And yet, he was smiling. I said, "He is absolutely freezing." Declan ripped off his favorite jacket and handed it to me. "Here Mom, give this to him." I thought it might be too small to go over the man's sweater, so I suggested that we instead run over to Sam's Club to see if we could find him a little bigger jacket. Declan encouraged me to hurry, so we ran in and found him a warm coat big enough to fit comfortably over his sweater. When we went back, Declan handed it to him and he was speechless. He immediately put it on, buttoned it snuggly, put the hood over his head and as we left, I saw tears streaming down his smiling face. Declan has a heart for all people, but he really SEES people who are hurting and in need. He will literally give you the shirt (or coat) off his back and he doesn't care if it's his favorite coat. My heart...
I've said it before: Madigan can fix or build anything. A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G! He has built toy guns for his brothers, trailers for his lawn mower, ladders, bunk beds, toy cannons, wooden boats and so much more. Yesterday he built a ladder for his bunk bed that is so sturdy it could hold his horse! He has faithfully cared for his horse, day after day, long night after incredibly long night. We just found out that we are going to have to administer another 4 weeks of antibiotics (for an ongoing bone infection that Wynn is fighting) and will have to do so every 6 hours. It means a lot of tedious nights ahead, because it takes us over 1 hours to administer the medicine with all the steps required. Madigan didn't hesitate, but went straight into making a plan for where he will sleep for the month (climbing down from the very top bunk in the wee hours of the morning is sometimes hazardous), and how we can streamline administering the medicine most efficiently. He never feels sorry for himself; he just takes the bull by the horns and does what has to be done. I learn every day from him and he is my inspiration for more than he realizes.