Sunday Mornings

Sunday mornings I choose the blue mug. There's only one, it doesn't match the others, and it's smaller in size than the white mugs that are part of my regular set of dishes. I choose it on Sundays because I love the muted turquoise color and the shape -- it's not ordinary like my weekday mugs. 

On Sunday mornings I like to sit out back on my small porch, with my coffee and raisin bread toast and the Sunday New York Times. Maybe this was also one of my favorite things pre-accident, but now I savor it, as often as New England weather allows. 

Post-accident, my life has in some ways slowed down. I'm not racing down mountainsides on my bicycle, I'm not darting about the house doing 17 things at once: carrying fresh laundry upstairs and chasing the dog down stairs; in this way I've been forced to slow down post-accident. So I've chosen to not only enjoy the slower pace but savor it. Sunday morning coffee is one thing I love, along with crispy raisin bread toast. Sitting on the porch and watching fall sunlight glow behind colored leaves, or lying in bed awakened by a full moon's light shining through the tree branches. Rather than cursing my mid-night awakening, I welcome the beauty of the moonlight and the quietness of night. 

Maybe it's less of a slowing down and more of a conscious acknowledgment of my change from a life constantly in motion to one of stillness. And also accepting that change with grace. Every day I acknowledge moments that give me joy, and I pause to smile and enjoy: sharing warm hugs with close friends, snuggling with my dog, laughing out loud, getting lost in the pages of a thrilling novel.

The turquoise of my blue mug reminds me of different colors on different days. Some mornings it's the color of the summer sky, other times it's a perfect robins-egg blue, and today it reminds me of the sparkling Caribbean Sea. This morning the sun is shining through brilliantly colored Fall leaves, a crisp breeze blows through the trees, my dog is asleep beside me and wisps of steam curl upward from the blue mug of hot coffee in my hands.


POSTED ON AMPUTEE EMPOWERMENT PARTNERS 15 OCT 2011, 11:13 AM