Donovon

Day 206 / The Love of My Life

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Admittedly, I had a difficult time feeling gratitude yesterday.  I was feeling stressed, and I’m missing My Daddy so much, and was therefore also feeling depressed.

I really just wanted to take my sadness and depression and wallow in it.  And I did just that.  I went to bed feeling bad that I couldn’t think of anything to be thankful for.  Yet also knowing that I would have to make up today for the lack of post yesterday.  I can’t allow myself to skip a day completely.

So this morning as I reflect on yesterday with fresher perspective, I remember how I felt of glimmer of gratitude last night – It was late and I was tired.  I was reading my Kindle while Donovon was watching a movie and building some sort of something out of Legos.  I looked over at him and thought God, I love this man and everything we are together.  I got up, climbed in his lap and hugged and kissed him.  I do this fairly often, so it wasn’t unusual, but in this particular instance it made me feel so much better to feel connected to him – the love of my life for over two decades.

Why I couldn’t bring myself to write about this last night, I’m not sure.  But in the morning light of a new day, it’s very clear to me that I’m so very grateful for still being married to the love of my life.

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Day 205 / Precious Father-Daughter Moment

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Ava loves old school cartoons on the Boomerang channel. She watches them every night just before going to bed. If Donovon is in the living room, she’ll climb into his lap and they’ll watch together.

Tonight I snuck in a quick shot of Donovon kissing the top of Ava’s head while she was sitting on his lap watching her cartoons. It was so incredibly priceless. I’m thankful for capturing this candid, precious father-daughter moment.

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Day 192 / At-Home Dinner and a Movie

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I’ve mentioned more than once my love of movies. We watch a movie with dinner at home at least 4 or 5 times a week, if not more. We have a collection of over 1200 DVDs and Blu-Rays. So needless to say, we haven’t run out of movies to watch.

The routine is Ava goes to bed around 8pm after which Donovon and I put on a movie and eat our dinner. Sometimes Alexa will join us and sometimes we’ll have our neighbor over. Sometimes we’ll marathon watch a series like Die Hard the first night, Die Hard 2 the second, etc. Sometimes we’ll choose an actor and watch a series of his or her movies each night.

We’ve been doing this for years and I just realized how grateful I am to have these At-Home Dinner & Movie Nights. They’re such an enjoyable and relaxing way to end the day.

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Day 178 / Donovon’s Birthday

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The sweet smile that came across Donovon’s when we gave him his birthday present this morning was priceless.

Anyone who knows Donovon knows full well his love of Star Wars. I could not help but get him the Lego Death Star set. It was perfect. I’ve thought about his smile when he opened it all day. It makes my heart smile.

We celebrated with dinner at his favorite restaurant tonight, Carrabba’s. It was such a nice dinner, and Donovon loved it.

I’m so grateful for such an awesome birthday for Donovon.

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Day 166 / Black Eyed Peas

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Although I do love the catchy tunes of the American pop group, I’m referring to the black eyed peas of traditional New Year’s Day Southern fare.

Donovon will typically try a new recipe for our good luck staple and this year he has outdone himself. Tonight he made “Black-eyed Pea and Sausage Soup” from his favorite cookbook that I bought him years ago in Louisiana. This soup is insanely good – hearty, flavorful, and full of soul.

I hope it brings the good luck intended by eating it, but I count myself lucky just for the meal in and of itself. I’m so grateful for Donovon’s black eyed pea soup!!

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Day 161 / Three Christmases

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With three sets of parents, we get to have Three Christmases every year. This can be somewhat overwhelming at times, but I’m grateful for each one every year.

This year, we started at Donovon’s mother and stepdad’s house just outside Austin. His sister Cortney and her kids were there, and his stepbrother, Ash. We do not get to see them very often, so it was nice to catch up with them. It was a short visit because we had to get on the road, but it was such a pleasant one. And I always look forward to the reading of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. It’s become a tradition that we play the gift exchange game with it, which I love.

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Next we set off to Houston to my parents’ house. Admittedly, I was feeling sad about this visit. I was not looking forward to Daddy not being there. It felt empty and the hole in my heart felt bigger. It turned out, however, to be such a wonderful Christmas. We all felt his presence as we spent this special time together. There was some pain in the air, but by the time we left to head to Donovon’s father and stepmom’s house, I was much more at peace – and I could feel that my mom, sister and brother were too. It was such a comfort.

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We spent the final round at Donovon’s parents’ house on another side of Houston. I was exhausted, but gained a second wind as we spent time with more family, ate delicious food, and played Trivia Crack. 🙂 I’m amazed at how fast my nieces and nephews on this side have grown, even though my kids have grown just as fast.

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We headed back to Austin after the final round. On the drive back today, I felt grateful for so much love and joy this Christmas season. Although it was tough in the beginning, by the time we finished our Three Christmases, I felt a lot less sad and much more happy. I smile thinking about our nine nieces and nephews, the generosity and thoughtfulness of our families in the gifts we received, and the pure joy on Ava’s face when she finally got her Elsa doll.

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It was a wonderful Christmas, indeed. And I felt my Daddy smiling with us the whole time.