麻豆约拍

In a few days, the last of my sons and daughters will head back to university.听Three of them were born at once, they're triplets. When they first come home for the holidays it's like Avengers Assemble: egos jostling as transformed people show off their special powers, which include drinking, clubbing and leaving their dirty, discarded stuff all over the house.听If we are lucky, we get a few sweet moments of connection over a game or something: laughter around the room, maybe even hugs.听We feel like a team then, like the old days.听Then, when the laundry has been done and the fridge is empty, they start to go back to where they're meant to be.听

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All we can do then is hope we've done enough to let them know they're still loved.听Hope the good times become memories to sustain them when they're far away, thinking of their people, their place, where they're from, who they are.听And I think the same applies when it comes to letting go of others too.听So many of us have struggled with that these last couple of years, haven't we? Standing outside a care home window. Saying goodbye on a screen.听Sitting alone at a funeral.听Because following the rules has been hard. Sometimes the only balm for the pain is the recollection of joy we had together.

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Which in turn, I think,听suggests cherishing the moments we have with the ones we love right now.听Taking time to notice.听Storing up memories, if we are lucky enough to be able to do that.听Jesus told his friends to consider the lilies in the field. One of the things he might have meant is that the treasure is in the small things.听He talked about a massive idea called the kingdom of heaven, but the stories he told to illustrate it were about a woman making bread or a man planting a tiny mustard seed that grows into a tree.听So I've been trying to do that over the last month: to treasure those small things. Swimming in an icy sea with Josh.听Going bowling with Ruby. Walking the dog with Jacob.听Watching a sunset with Grace.听I hold all this in my heart and smile, Zoe, then I can let them go.