Fancy shoes

Anybody remember these?

 These were some fancy shoes gifted to Mateo at birth from an acquaintance.  They're the Lebron shoes for infants and Google told me then that they were not cheap.  Unfortunately, Mateo wore them for only a short time before he grew out of them, and back then we were too fanatical about our new walker wearing only soft-soled shoes to let him wear high-tops anyway, so they went down to our basement and into storage practically new.   Here's Mateo around that age with Apa, who was in Portland on a visit and on the verge of landing the job that let him move here:

Back in the present day, Tali has been devotedly wearing a pair of Pumas handed down to her by an older friend, but they finally got too small and had to be put away.  I went down to the basement to see if I could find anything and I saw the LeBron shoes.  They looked about right, and sure enough, they fit perfectly.  Tali loves her fancy shoes, as we've been calling them, and they're perfect for the rainy weather that has been upon us.  Here she is with Apa showing them off. 

These kids, they are just the greatest, basketball shoes or not.  After Sacha came home and we got home from the park this evening, I went out for a quick break at a coffee shop.  I was ordering a pastry that I knew Mateo would like and I mentioned to the barista person that my son loves this particular thing.  And then I was just struck by gratitude, again, that I get to say "my son" and "my daughter" and that Sacha and I have two beautiful kids.  

Even almost four years into it, I am frequently thunderstruck by just how lucky we are.  When I was in college and so angst-ridden, I could never in my wildest dreams have imagined that things would turn out like this.  Even on days when I am up to my eyeballs in frustration, I try not to take it for granted.  We are so lucky.  I was recently rereading Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott and somewhere in it she says that she thinks most people pray one of two things:  either "thank you" or "please help me (or someone else)."   That really rings true to me and, while I wouldn't say that I pray frequently, I guess by that definition, I do.  Thank you rings in my ears all the time.