A nice night

Every Tuesday night, Conor's father's side of the family gets together and has dinner. I am always invited and usually try to go once a month. Last night, Conor's sister was there (she just moved back to New Orleans), his brother was there and many of his adult cousins. I am only 6 years older than my step-daughter and 15 years older than my step-son so it is really like having friends than a parent-child type relationship.

I digress. In the middle of dinner, I looked at the head of the table and see Nanny and Paw sitting there, smiling very contently. I realized the full table, many jokes and teasing was filling their hearts. Paw has been very quiet about Mark's (Conor's father) death while Nanny will talk with me from time to time - I know her heart really hurts. But last night, in the midst of the chaos and I did not see the hurt in either of them...I just saw the peace that happens when surrounded by loved ones. Nanny and Paw are in their 90's so to see that look now is a blessing.

Now, a part of the teasing was to Conor: he got braces yesterday! Say CHEESE!

(he's so not happy about this!)