... why you heard fireworks and jubilation sometime around noon yesterday, it was because my two-year-old nephew, Aidan, said "Aunt Erin" for the first time after Easter brunch.

It's pretty much all I talked about for the remainder of the day.

We had a great weekend. At one point Saturday morning, as we drank our third cup of coffee, Scott mentioned that he was actually relaxed, and that for once we didn't have anything to do, and it was the nicest feeling ever. We spent the entire afternoon on the couch, drinking coffee and talking. Planning. Later in the evening, after we'd dropped Glin off at my sister's and headed to Joliet, we talked more over dinner and ate surprisingly delicious steaks and giggled a lot about All Things J-Town.

Easter was lovely, even if the choir at my parents' church was not, oy, and we got to spend some extra time with my grandma at her house before we were off to Scott's dad's for Easter dinner, and by the time we were checking out at the Jewel, as the day ended, when Scott leaned in to kiss my cheek as the last of our groceries were being bagged, I felt myself being reminded what it was like to be happy, and not anxious, worried, stressed or upset. Just happy.

The message that probably gets lost in all of the recapping I've been doing about my divorce as of late is that there was a lot of happiness in there. Maybe within the relationship there wasn't the kind of happiness I ultimately saw for myself in a lasting marriage, but there was happiness and contentment overall and it's as important to acknowledge that as the sadder elements I kept hidden, otherwise I'd have to question my judgment entirely.

Finally, there is happiness again. Contentment. A whole brand of it I'd hoped for and eventually seemed to have received.

Posted by Erin at 07:39 AM | filed under: Odds and ends