Daydreams

Some girls want to marry someone who can take care of them.
A banker. A lawyer. A doctor.
They want the money. The house. The car. 2.5 kids, one dog, and a beautiful modern home on the outskirts of the city.
One acre, tops, that the gardener/landscaper will now once a week while he tends to the flowers and shrubbery.
A daycare to send the kids to as both parents work outside the home. A quiet house to relax in at night. A husband who leaves for work in a suit, carrying a briefcase and who grabs a couple drinks in the hotel bar during business trips.


Not me.


When I close my eyes, I see a curly-haired man with laughing eyes and a crooked smile.
He's wearing a dirty hat, boots, and well-worn jeans. Behind him is a house with a wrap-around porch. Behind that, a barn. There are horses, cattle, dogs, maybe even some sheep, chickens, and goats.
Along one edge of the acres and acres of land is a wooded area. A river runs through it, and our six children can be found laughing and swimming and playing there every day during the summer.
In the evening, my husband comes into the house sweaty from working in the fields and taking care of the animals. The kids and I help his as much as possible when they're not at school and I'm not taking care of the house.
The dinner table is full of laughter as we talk about our days, the children and their father speaking with those endearing accents that they'll never lose, no matter how far from home their lives may lead them.
Sunset finds my husband and I sitting on the porch, watching the kids play with each other, the dogs running at their feet. As it gets darker, mason jars with holes in the lid are filled with fireflies, carefully counted to see who has the most.
the neighbors are just far enough that we can barely see their houses in the winter, when all the trees are bare, but close enough that the children can walk or ride their bikes to each others' houses to play.

Life is loud, hectic, chaotic.
But laughter is the loudest thing you can hear.
Money is tight.
But we never go without the things we need.
Every day is different. Some easy, some hard.
But they each have the consistency of family and love.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.