A Trip to the Pool

I think the saying absence makes the heart grow fonder has never been more true. After Nate was missing from our lives, for what seemed like a very long 5 months this past year, the last few months of having him home has been, for lack of a better word, AWESOME! It really is amazing how much Carter and I both look forward to the moment "Daddy" comes home everyday. Our faces both light up and a new energy enters our home. So, yesterday on his way home from work Nate called and asked Carter if she would like to go to the pool. The craziness that follows is one tiny little two year running frantically for her swim suit and all the other necessary gear for a trip to the pool! I am so fascinated with the way her chubby little self has turned into quite a leggy little lady, especially evident when she has her tiny hiny squeezed into a swimsuit! Her excitement is contagious and we all have a bounce in our step as we head off to Oak Harbor's one and only indoor pool. It is unseasonably warm inside which makes for a nice escape from the damp and chilly weather we endure every day. Carter cannot wait to shed her sweatsuit and shoes and heads straight for the water.

She loves it and I love watching her as she enjoys her new favorite game which is a splash war with her dad.

My heart feels like it could burst as I watch them playing together and am reminded that in what I know will only feel like a few short months Nate will be gone again. I try not to dwell on it too much, but it is in moments like this that I am reminded of the huge void that his absence creates. There is a spot in our hearts that is just empty without him. It makes us stronger as a family, or at least this thought is something positive to hold on to, we appreciate each other in a way that is only possible when you have gone without. I cherish these moments and hope that they will be the ones that we are reminded of on the days when things seem hard. They give us something to remember and something to look forward to...I can't ask for much more than that.