Pure joy

As always, lots to catch up on. But for now, I just want to tell the story of one of the happiest mornings I have had in my whole life. It was actually only about an hour out of the morning, but filled with enough happiness to last the whole day. And of the simplest variety possible: I went out with my son on a lovely day to buy him a new pair of shoes.

The J-dog and I left the house to stroll over to our neighborhood kids' shoe store, to buy him his next pair of shoes - the pair he will most likely take his first steps in. It was a beautiful spring day, one of those days where you get a first glimpse of the glorious spring weather that will soon be here. Daffodils and other spring bulbs are popping up all over the city, and flowering trees are starting to bloom. It was 70 degrees and blue sky - just perfect. We went to the store and were helped by a super sweet salesman. We got an adorable pair of shoes (I can't believe I actually spent $54 on a pair of shoes that will last a matter of months!!!) that will be perfect for his precious little growing feet. And as we were leaving, the nice salesman brought us out a balloon, which he affixed to the stroller in a position where the J-dog could easily see it and reach the string. We strolled back out into the gorgeous day and proceeded home. The little guy was completely ecstatic about his new balloon. He was jerking the string around, bouncing the balloon up and down and laughing out loud in excitement the whole time. Busy New Yorkers were actually stopping to look at him and smile. Pure joy. It was such a simple thing and yet I have never felt so happy in my whole life.