keep the fire burning

every time we have a fire at home we ask each other, "what is it about a fire?". for us, it has been that treat that we look forward to at the end of the day. pb will email me at school and ask, "fire tonight?", and i can't wait to be home. we enjoyed our share of them this spring on school nights and weekends. some nights it was our way to decompress after the day as we quietly soaked in the heat and stared at the flames. other nights, we would stay up late, listen to whatever music we were in the mood for and talk and talk, solving all sorts of problems. those were the nights that we made plans and got excited about life and all the possibilities of now and the future. sometimes we talked about kids and what we could do to be better parents and how to parent together. we discussed teaching them about life and about growing up in times that are so different than we were kids. things are so accessible for them. and they don't talk, they text. another blog for another time...

last night we had a fire and we all found ourselves asking again, "what is it about a fire?". as we sat outside with my mom, wil and em, the conversation never stopped. a fire seems to bring people together. we had played a new game that we got for the kids, roasted marshmallows and listened to music while the sun was going down. once it got dark and the lightening bugs were buzzing around us in full force, we all sat down around the fire pit and started telling stories. 3 generations and no one was texting, checking their email, mad or picking on each other. something about staring into the flames and feeling the warmth of the fire...it brings everybody together.

of course, "are we doing that again tomorrow night?", was the question to close the evening as we were picking up our things and putting out the fire. like we have said so many nights by our own fire at home when we are solving problems...it is the little things in life that everybody will remember.