Grasshopper

So, my girl is pretty darn amazing, I do think so, and thank you for all the warm and generous comments about her. Today, I shared them with her, and discovered that I need to give my husband some lemonade love, too, because he's the one who told our daughter, "Sweetheart, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade." He gave her this piece of wisdom while I was going from counter to counter in the airport on Saturday trying every way I could to get us on a flight. She was crestfallen and her dad gently coached her on handling disappointment, setting an example by keeping his own cool, serving up no blame at all for our circumstances. He knew how crushed I was and he quietly determined not to add to it. He set the tone in the most loving way, communicating wordlessly that even though we were disappointed, it wasn't the end of the world. It's one of the things I most love about him. He sees and hears and understands what is not immediately discernible. He is our calm and patient grasshopper.

In this photo from another trip we took some years ago, the wise daddy grasshopper is on the left. We were on a road trip to Virginia with the little grasshoppers in training. We had stopped at a rest stop in Maryland where my husband and the children with us—my son, my daughter and one of our nephews—chose $3 sunglasses from a vendor booth. Here, they are modeling their uber cool looks for me. How lucky are we to be sharing life with this man!