One of those perfect days that feel like the greatest blessing ... hot sun though still a chill wind, but we'll take it. Went across town to Anna's, the boys playing basketball in the yard while their mother cooked; the inventor of basketball should win a Nobel Peace Prize, that sport has done so much good for the planet. Eli's dad Thomas arrived, and Sam, T and I put together the trampoline I bought them when the pandemic hit in 2020 and that has been in use ever since. Ben is a constant bouncer.
And then we went for a walk by the lake, two small boys in non-stop movement, one lively doggo eager to join in, Anna, Sam, and Holly, my daughter by another mother. Back at the apartment, Ben's dad Matt arrived, an early dinner materialized, and we all ate at the picnic table outside for the first time this year. And then, while Matt kept the boys busy playing catch in the alley, the Easter Bunny arrived and hid eggs all over the yard. The boys had already received big baskets of chocolate and stuffed bunnies, but now, great excitement as the competitive hunt for more began.
My daughter and her boys live in a small two-bedroom apartment in an old building that was once a Parkdale mansion. But she's on the ground floor, opening out to a yard filled with bicycles, scooters, basketball net, baseballs - every kind of ball, and more, plus an alleyway outside the gate. They're right on a busy street, but ten minutes away is the lake, and twenty minutes away is High Park. And five minutes away lives their uncle.
Those lucky lucky boys. And lucky me, to celebrate with them, so much laughter, teasing, fun. It has not always been like this. Anna's life is complicated, Sam's has had its tragedies, mine has been fraught. But yesterday, for once, was peaceful for us all.
My face is burning, a bit, from sun. My heart is glowing, a lot, from love.
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