January 15, 2011 11:28 AM
Curtis Family update
Trying to catch up on a few pictures/things I've been meaning to say - then to post some giveaways today, do an email blast - all before they get home from basketball? I don't think so. . .
Tripp gave me a teensy camera for Christmas because my SLR is so big that I never have it with me when I want to snap something fast. Now I carry this pretty little violet Panasonic
I love spending time with my girls. Sophia left Thursday with her sweetheart Josh - who had been visiting - to go back to Liberty, where they are in the final rehearsals for The Mikado. We will be going down to see the show in a couple weeks.
It was wonderful to have Sophia home and hear her lovely voice added to the usual mix of Maddy's and Matt's. I love that my children sing all the time - what a blessing! But Matt could leave at any time - he is in new York for an audition today. And Sophia is only here for breaks. And Tripp and I are trying to get used to the idea that in seven months our baby girl is leaving. Maddy auditioned and has been accepted to Catholic University - the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music - to study vocal performance. For those of you familiar with all the genres she sings, you might not have heard her sing opera - but she does and that's where she wants to focus her future. She is also auditioning for the Washington National Opera Institute for Young Singers this summer.
Maddy's Facebook says "I love my life." I love mine too. One thing I'm grateful for is where I live, tucked away in the country down a few dirt roads. It's the kind of place where you can drive home at night for five miles and never see another car. The kind of place where when you do see a car, you wave. If you're carrying a visitor with you, he or she may ask, "Who was that?" and you say "I don't know. that's just what we do here."
It's the kind of place where your car is always dirty but you don't notice until you go to a more civilized place and then you feel like a real hick.
It's the kind of place where the US Post Office is a social hub because our Postmaster (she doesn't like to be called Postmistress) Rachel has been there for 40 years - since she moved from northern California to Bluemont as a hippie in the 60s. Don't ask me why she was going in the opposite direction of everyone else, but Bluemont is the richer for her presence.
Sometimes I realize how different my days are from people who live in other places - deer on the front lawn, horses grazing in my neighbors' pastures - and a lady who walks a llama down the street every Sunday. I've always wanted o get a picture and last Sunday, thanks to my trusty little purse camera, I did. She says they've been together 15 years, she boards him down the road from me and drives out from Falls Church every Sunday to walk him.
You can tell this llama knows he's a rockstar.
You wouldn't think this couple had six children, would you? Samantha Sunshine is my oldest - now 41 - and she and Kip met when we moved to San Rafael from San Francisco and Samantha was in 5th grade at Sun Valley School. Kip was one of the many boys she was interested in, but they were just friends until their junior year of high school, when he asked her out. His mother drove and waited in the car while Kip rang the doorbell. He was wearing (very 80s) white pants and a turquoise shirt. When Samantha came down the stairs, she was wearing - can you believe it? - white pants and a turquoise shirt. Completely unplanned. As Kip's sister-in-law said from the start: they look like they should be on top of a wedding cake.
They married at 19 and Samantha worked for our company Mr. Trees until Kip graduated from college. Kip is one of those computer whizzes who make a lot of money doing something we don't understand. Kip and Sam have now been married for 22 years and have six children 3-18. They followed us out from California in 2002, for which I am very grateful. Samantha homeschools and will send her first - my grandson Tim - off to Liberty University next year.
I shot this while we were watching home videos last Sunday in honor of Sophia's and Matt's birthdays. Curled up in the window seat with their youngest, my beautiful granddaughter adopted from Guatemala -it was a quiet moment that reminded me of the pictures we have of their younger days, when none of us had any idea how different the future would be.
I'll be honest. When you have a big family and your daughter has a big family and you get together regularly to celebrate, birthdays tend to get shuffled around. Last Sunday we celebrated Matt's 26th (1/9) and Sophia's 21st (12/28).
Also, with 21 birthdays to celebrate each year, people can get a little tired of cake and ice cream. My grandson Andrew requested root beer floats one year and several have followed his lead. Sophia asked for cheesecake and Matt went along. So here they are as we sing to them, reminding me that families can overcome anything.
Matt left home at 18 and the circumstances left a lot of hurt on both sides. Sophia was very young and for a long time she wouldn't come downstairs when Matt came home to visit. Now they are the best of friends and it is a joy to think that God can open hearts that seem closed tight.
My greatest joy as a mom is seeing how much my kids love each other, how much fun they have together and how important they are in each others' lives. I feel like our home is the hub of this circle of love they return to whenever they can - to live for a while, to heal physically (like Zach after his motorcycle accident), to deal with disappointment (Zach after missing the Marine OCS date because of the motorcycle accident). to regroup, and to continue building their dreams. (Zach, btw, has a terrific job in Winchester, where he moved so he wouldn't have to drive his motorcycle over the mountain each day during the winter - still waiting for the Marines, hopefully next October.)
But most of all, it seems like you never know who you will find at home, but whoever it is, it's someone you love. Ben and his wife Anna, Josh and his wife Hattie - have brought even more blessings to us all through their loving marriages. Josh and Hattie especially through their example as they continue into their fourth year of battling Hattie's cancer. And Ben and Anna as they worked hard to pay off student loans before Ben goes to grad school - he hopes to continue studying opera at Eastman University. Pray for them!
Next year, it looks like it will be just me and Tripp and the Downzers. Honestly, i will miss the intellectual excitement generated when my older kids are here. But I know God has plans and I am listening for the still, small voice. And I know that it is in the humble, sacrificial work that we find our spiritual strength. I draw strength from the example of Henri Nouwen, priest/author/speaker, who in the end became pastor of a small community of developmentally disabled adults.
I began this post with just four pictures and no plan. God began our family similarly - with two people who had no plan. But I feel he always has a plan, always had a plan. 
And the purpose of life is to learn to listen ever more closely, until it seems you are being carried down a stream - so relaxed and trusting.
If I had one piece of advice to give young parents, it is to have a big family - through birth and/or adoption. I feel like I've accomplished a lot as a communicator, but seeing my children grow into kind, caring, loving and joyful adults has been the greatest blessing of my life.
Comments
Awww Momma.....what a touching post. I love to hear these updates. I hope we are neighbors in heaven; and I hope our mansions include horses and lamas too.
Sending you cybernetic hugs and kisses. You're still my favorite blogger!!!!
Posted by: LadyLovas | January 15, 2011 12:58 PM
A beautiful post, Barbara. I love reading about your family and what a blessing each of your children are. Very encouraging.
Posted by: Anna | January 15, 2011 5:04 PM
I've never posted a comment before, but am a regular reader since I stumbled upon your blog many months ago. I loved this post about your family. Thanks for sharing so beautifully about them, your faith, convictions, experiences and more. What a great mommy blog. (Oh, and I cut my husband's and my three boys' hair myself too!)
Andrea Jones
Posted by: Andrea Jones | January 16, 2011 3:32 PM
