A Happy Ending and Personal Training

My youngest son worries about everything. EVERYTHING. We're really working on it, but every little thing poses some kind of issue we have to work through. Anyway, he loves the book THE GIVING TREE. He's loved it for years, but lately something about it has bothered him. Every time we get to the end, he says, "I don't like the ending." Well, of course, the ending is a little dark if you really ruminate on it, but most kids don't. Anyway, yesterday he came to me with his book and his colored pencils. He said, "Mom, this book has a blank page at the end of it. I think the author wants us to finish it."

Hmmm. Interesting thought. Since I didn't have a way to contact Mr. Silverstein, being that he's dead and all, I asked him, "What do you have in mind?"

"Can I do it? Then I'll show you."

I told him it was okay, and he headed off to work. He labored over his desk and then got his brother to help him for a while. Finally, they showed it to me last night. Remember how the book ends? The tree is just a stump. The boy has taken everything, then rests on the stump. The boys decided that a new young boy (as opposed to the now old man) should come up and water the stump, and a new sprig of leaves sprouts up. I LOVED it, and somehow, I think Mr. Silverstein would have liked it, too.

I've enlisted my oldest daughter to be my husband's personal trainer. She's in charge of getting dad in shape and getting him on a regular exercise routine. Last night she took him on a run, and he said she wouldn't let up. It was great. A good father-daughter moment, for sure. It's a win-win on every level.

Tonight is our third soup night. We've got to tabulate our donation for the Food Pantry and write our note tonight since it's the end of the month. It's funny because the kids don't really see it as that much of a sacrifice. They like soup, and they go to bed fairly early. But by 9:30 Chris and I are starving. It's funny.
But it's a good reminder of our many blessings.

Have a great week.