To be there...

Raveena is always so great at bringing our Girls Night Out calendars together between the three of us - daniela, raveena and me. This week, she asked if I wanted/needed anything. I told her "I really need to get out!" So, even though it couldn't be the three of us, because Daniela is on a leisure trip to Canada, Raveena came by to get me and we went to our usual place, but the new location, half a mile from my house, Benjy's!

But, before that, I told Isabela that Raveena would be coming. I suggested to her that we should make a special "thank you" card for all those things that she is always pointing out that Raveena got for her while she was in the hospital. Isabela said, "Oh, yeah, I am going to tell her that I love to wear my shoes! I also like my books and my snacks! Mami, I am going to write her an email!" So she runs to the computer, starts pressing on the keys and thinks out loud....."Raveena, thank you for being there at the hospital. Thank you for my white shoes. I love you Raveena." I thought it was all so sweet, but then it suddenly struck me...Raveena, thank you for being there at the hospital. That was the first thing that came to her. There was no prompting from me. It was just that, what meant so much to her. She got it! It wasn't' so much the beautiful shoes, all the High School Musical decor that plastered her room, not all the yummy snacks we survived on for weeks, not the cute clothes, but what it was what it all stood for. Raveena was redeemed in Isabela's eyes just as Raveena had fundamentally hoped she would.
I am so very proud that my little girl realizes what was the best part of what everyone set out to do for her...just being there..being present.
When thinking about it, Raveena's special gifts weren't the only ones she acknowledged, she can look at any single thing in her possession now and tell me who gave it to her. The neat thing is that now I know that it means more to her than its practical function. It means a great deal to her.
YES!!! She gets it...it's not just me.

So, perhaps Isabela will also get my gift for her. Staying at home full-time is what I give her at this time, completely and utterly hers.


and again, RAveena, THANK YOU for my special jammies...to be thought of during a time when it was all about Isabela, was undeniably such a selfish reward for me.