toastin' one of my favorite people.....

i think it's the coolest thing that i genuinely admire my sons.
that is just the most wonderful thing for a parent to feel.

and while i could write volumes about all three of them,
it's josh that i was just celebrating.
he came for lunch, it was just him and i,
and i wanted him to know what i was feeling.
so we stopped, and i toasted him.

told him i respected him so much and loved how he lived - really really lived.

what sparked this?

well, i think it began when he was telling me stories a few weeks back about
his songwriting workshop with the homeless. the story that caught my heart the
most happened after the class he offered, where he was jamming on the curb
with a few of the fellas.

some of the things he said - some of the things that stood out for him,
and how he was moved and felt a bit changed driving home.

i think that started it.

actually, no..........now that i think about it, it was his stories of doing street music
down in charlottesville.....and who he met and how he responded to those people.
i think THAT started it. and then it just kept rolling........

i've heard so many of these stories now, that i'd have to be blind not to see this
incredible quality of his - his ability to relate with and be with anyone. it's not just the
scraggly and rough, it's with every kind of person.

i love how he becomes part of wherever he is.
and is so open to what comes his way.
his stories reflect that.
and i so admire him for it.

so when he was coming for lunch and promised to fill me in on his stories
from playing on the psych ward at the VA hospital, i knew i wanted to make
sure we stopped in the middle of it all so i could toast him.

his stories didn't disappoint.
i think possibly because they're wrapped up in a sincere gratitude for being
able to do what he does. he's as grateful for the people he meets as they are of him.

and THAT tops it all off.

in a sense i want to be more like josh when i grow up.
since he's an extrovert, and i'm an introvert, there's a lotta ways that wouldn't work out.
but the being open to what comes along,
the being receptive to every human being who crosses your path,
to the holding of the sensitive in the middle of the profane......
and to giving your all wherever you go........
those are things i want to do like josh does!

so once again, i'm toasting josh!
and thanking the stars i get to be his mom!