Relationships!  The older you get, the more you realize relationships are what matter.  Niece Hallee is returning from her mission this Saturday, and I’ve spent the morning following threads on the phone as schedules are coordinated and plans are made for the extended family to celebrate her homecoming.  We’re strengthening

relationships.

Also, this morning, friend Cathy sent a pic of her two boys.  One lives in NYC and one in London.  Both were home for a visit in Boise and you could tell the three of them were happy to be together.  Cathy said, “…I wish I wouldn’t have given them wings to fly.”  But, in the same breath she expressed her gratitude for the independent lives they are leading.  

It’s not that we want them around all the time. What we want are the relationships we’ve nurtured to continue. Friends, children, spouses, and others who listen to our ideas and respond with their own, help expand our view.

John and Abigail Adams left letters and journals that let us glimpse into a relationship that was often strengthened over long distances.  One time while John was away for an extended time, Abigail wrote, “a people may let a King fall, yet still remain a people, but if a King let his people slip from him, he is no longer a King. And as this is most certainly our case, why not proclaim to the world in decisive terms our own importance?”  John’s response is found in a following letter, “I think you shine as a stateswoman.”*  Founding Fathers and Founding Mothers built a better world partly because they shone in their own relationships.

Now, lest you think all significant relationships should be involved in kingdoms and republics let me share an exchange between Brent and myself that was significant without any mention of kings or rulers.  It was dinner time.  I had no plans.  And he suggested we go out to eat.  Simple as that.  A great idea expressed at just the right moment.  Life is good.

*John Adams by David McCullough p. 107