Tag Archives: family

happiness

Clean it up

The boy bravely entered into his pit with a garbage bag and cleaned and organized his bedroom. He has a tiny little space that he loves, but it does get messy very easily. He spent hours sorting and moving things this evening. Now his room is a happier, safer feeling place and he has this great sense of accomplishment. And that was a happiness moment for me. 

It’s something we continue to do with our lives in general these days  – assess what we need and where it fits and get rid of the rest. Life gets too complicated with too many things and too many distractions. 

As a bonus happiness moment I was reminded today how important it is to really talk about big things with my close people. I don’t want to spend any more of my life with yucky feelings between me and the people I love. 

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Thrive in your tribe 

Those of you who know me in real life know that I often laugh about how I don’t like people. And while I do often find being around too many people for too long overwhelming, I am also well aware that I need my tribe in order to thrive. 

A good thing about my tribe is we laugh together about being so introverted we need people breaks on a regular basis – we all get each other that way which makes it easy. And there is the odd extrovert which is also a good thing because they get me in a different way. 

The important thing though, is that we laugh together. More and more I am grateful for my people, and understand the importance of getting together with them and strengthening those bonds. I have a lot of women in my extended family which means I was fortunate enough to have been born with a ready made tribe. We are all realizing how lucky we are to have this built in support system and I can see more and more we are taking advantage of it. 

Today we had a cousin lunch in town which included me and two cousins and my mom and her cousin’s wife. Even when we don’t see each other on a regular basis, we share the same background and have the same kinds of stories. These are some of my treasured relationships. Sharing stories and breaking bread with some of my fabulous women was my happiness moment today. 

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The open door

We have worked very hard to create a home that is safe, loving, warm, and happy. For a while it meant that we kind of shut our space down and kept it a very private and protected place. Now that we are home and surrounded by loved ones, those barriers are able to come down in huge ways and the home is becoming a more open, joyful, free place again.

 

Today I had finally convinced myself to get some housework done and was blasting music and vacuuming up pet hair (ugh) when I looked out the window and saw my aunt standing outside. What a wonderful surprise! She and my uncle had been visiting in the area and stopped by to see if I could join them for lunch. It’s another one of those things I appreciate more after being away for so long – I love that our tribe can just stop by and say hi at any given time. We spent years and years being lonely and isolated from our people. I had a lovely happiness moment enjoying lunch and a visit with my aunt and uncle – I don’t get to see them often enough.

As a bonus secondary happiness moment, cousins joined up at the top of the driveway today after school. It warms my heart to see this group of kids hanging out together. These cousin bonds are so important. My own sister and cousin friendships have carried me through every bump in my life.

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Exactly how it’s supposed to be 

Every once in a while there are those days that remind me that life is exactly how it’s supposed to be.  I thank God every day we are home – and a million times more on days like today. 

It’s hot, we had a family branding, I planted the heirloom purple potatoes, we are at the creek. There is very little I need in life beyond these simple pleasures to make me happy. I’m sitting here with Jacob, blowing bubbles and watching the girls swim in the water. Life is exactly how it’s supposed to be. A happiness day. 

Totally got him. I won!!

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Who do you want with you?

Something that has been sitting with me since losing dad last year is the question who do I want around me at the end? Which expands to who do I want to surround myself with? What people do I want in my life?

Moving back  home and being surrounded by my tribe has answered a lot of that for me. I want to be surrounded by these strong, kind, loving, faithful, fierce, funny people who are in my family and close circle. 

Today at a family funeral it really hit home how incredibly blessed we are that we have the community and the family that we do. Copithornes are good at pulling together in hard times. I saw it last year when we were in ours, and I saw it again today watching my cousins go through theirs. 

It was a beautiful tribute to uncle Dave. What a blessing to be able to celebrate the life of such a good, strong, kind man. The world needs to remember that there are men like that. 

My happiness moment was sitting with cousins and eating treats that brought us back to our childhood. Family bonding, there’s nothing quite like it. 

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Hold out your hands 

I was joined by my girl on my evening walk today. That is always a joyous treat, but tonight turned into something extra special. 

I know as we have reached the anniversary of dad’s death that so many memories have come up for all of us and it seems tonight was Jenna’s turn to process things. 

She shared with me her feelings around the last few days of dad’s life, how special it was to have him home, how difficult it was to send him to the hospice, how powerful it was when we all gathered and prayed after he died. 

She said the most meaningful part of the experience right after he passed was when she was approached by her cousin. She said I walked in and Courtney just opened her hands to me and pulled me right into her heart. It made me feel so safe and so good to know someone who loved me was there to care for me. 

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to trust with your heart, to let others hold onto that heart. Listening to her talk made me remember how important it is for all of us to have a safe place to land. 

Walking with my girl and sharing our stories was my happiness moment for the day. 

Jenna took this photo. She said it was like God had made a path home for her. 

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A few good men 

We spent this last weekend remembering and celebrating the lives of some really good men in our family.  I was thinking earlier today how incredibly lucky we are that we have men like we do in our extended tribe. 

I look at what I have learned coming through this divorce and I understand how easy it would be to end up angry at men based on that experience. And while I’m still pretty angry at Mr. X (especially as we have to head back to court again just so I can get permission to send my kid to therapy) it makes me appreciate the amazing men we have in our lives. In fact I feel like more than ever the kids and I have very purposeful conversations about the inner strength of these men. 

We spent the weekend remembering my dad, celebrating the birthdays of some uncles in the extended family, and also mourning the loss of one more of these great men. Saying goodbye is always difficult and I feel deeply for my cousins who are in the process of doing that now. 

But how lucky are we that we have this community of strong, moral people to help guide us through life. When you love someone there will always be the pain of loss, but so much better that than to never love at all. 

My sister branding uncle Dave back in the day 


My happiness moment today was driving Jacob to football practice. He’s waited a year to get back to playing and it was awesome to see his excitement. We are blessed. 

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250 party 

Tonight we went to a family birthday party – called the 250 party because the ages of the three men being celebrated adds up to 250 years. 

I was thinking this evening  how lucky we are that we have such amazing men in our family. My whole family is such a blessing and I would be lost without my tribe. It was a fun happiness moment  of celebrating birthdays and laughing and just being in the fold of the family. 


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Introverts on the road

I think one of the things that allows me to live in my introverted bliss is my evening walk. It is there where I usually come across my equally introverted family and neighbours and get to laugh and visit. A social introvert gathering. We all acknowledge and understand how it works. 

Jenna joined me for my walk tonight and was thrilled as we stopped to talk to three carloads of cousins. She said do you always meet so many people on your walks? No wonder it takes so long. Another reason why it is good to be home, and a joyous happiness moment 

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It’s tomato time 

A very simple and pure happiness moment today. Jacob and I bought a tomato plant. It’s gardening season and we celebrated by eating a couple of tomatoes that were already ripe on our plant. 


It seems the Grinch is going to keep on trying to steal Christmas from us, but we will continue to hold hands and sing. 

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