Nostalgia and Other Things

Erik and Peregrine in our first home together.

I had to drive to the town-next-store today to pick up our box of organic produce, which I irresponsibly forgot to go get at the closer pick-up last night. I don't often have reason to go that direction, and since I was just blocks away I decided to drive by the little duplex Erik and I rented when we first got married. It's surrounded entirely by other duplexes and the neighborhood is less than savory. But the price was right for a couple of newlyweds living on one income and although I don't miss it a bit I have wonderful memories of our first home together. It was there I began to live my dream of being a wife and mommy and making our home "ours". It was there I was pregnant with Peregrine and there we enjoyed our new little baby. It was there we learned that Erik had cancer and there we camped out on the futon in the living room for two weeks after his surgery. (Since we only had a mattress on the floor in our bedroom.) We only lived there a year-and-a-half, but it was a happy time, and one full of firsts in our life together. Erik moved into it the fall before we married. My mom and sister went over and, in the pouring rain, planted flowering bulbs in the tiny bed outside the front door. When Spring came around, along with the new life growing within me, we had the biggest red and yellow tulips blooming in that little bed. When I drove by today, I was sad to see that the current tenants park their trash bins in the flower bed. I could see some sad tulip stalks peeking out from under the bins, trying to get to the sun. I felt a bit sad, and nostalgic. Sad that the beauty of those flowers has been replaced by trash bins, and nostalgic for those first simple, happy days Erik and I spent in "duplex city."
In other thoughts, have I ever mentioned how wonderful my family is? My Mom called a while ago and said she's making a big pot of soup and will bring some by for our dinner, and also enough for my sister's family who lives down the road. She still takes care of us, especially if anyone is sick or when we have a lot going on, like moving or large renovation projects. I happened to be baking bread today so will send some of that along for my parents and sister's family to eat with their soup. I joked with my Mom that someone ought to make some dessert too and she said "Oh, Daddy is making mango sorbet for his girls!" Sharing food is a nice thing. It's something my family does often, and I think it's a wonderful way to love and care for each other.
Finally, it looks like Erik had caught the nasty cough/cold/crud that's been going around. He rarely gets sick, but actually stayed home from work today. If this is the same thing my parents and sister have had, it can get pretty bad. Also, Poppy's come down with the eye infection Peregrine had last week. If you think of it, would you pray for quick healing for both Erik and Poppy, and that these things won't spread to any more people? Thanks so much.