{"id":1298,"date":"2010-03-17T04:27:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-17T04:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-seventy-five-we-always\/"},"modified":"2015-06-05T14:18:28","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T18:18:28","slug":"day-seventy-five-we-always","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-seventy-five-we-always\/","title":{"rendered":"day seventy-five: \u201cwe always\u2026.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201dWhat we remember from childhood we remember forever – permanent ghosts, stamped, inked, imprinted, eternally seen.\u201d ~Cynthia Ozick<\/strong><\/span>

<\/strong><\/span>
We had one of those nights tonight\u2026.the kind where you enjoy your children more than you ever thought possible. The kind where you think that every sacrifice you ever made was worth it. And every mistake you ever made was forgotten. The kind that makes you glad that you had those family \u201c we always\u2026\u2026\u201d times.<\/span>

<\/span>
Kayla was home from college itinerating for her upcoming missionary position. Kara was teaching a drama seminar to a homeschool group two hours from us. And Cami and her husband (who live near us) were available. So Kayla, Cami, Joseph, Ray, and I went to visit Kara. We picked her up and went out for dinner then dessert and had an absolutely incredible night\u2026a night filled with remembering our \u201cwe always\u2026.\u201d times.<\/span>

<\/span>
It started when we picked Kara up. \u201cWe always\u201d run up to each other, hug, and act like we haven\u2019t seen each other for years (which it sometimes feels like!). Then we went to the restaurant and promptly laid all of the table signs on their sides\u2026because \u201cwe always\u201d do that.<\/span>

<\/span>
Next, just like \u201cwe always\u201d do, the one in the middle prayed. And just like \u201cwe always\u201d do\u2026.we talked, and talked, and talked, and talked.<\/span>

<\/span>
When we left the restaurant, everybody grabbed somebody\u2014arm in arm, hand around the waist\u2026because \u201cwe always\u201d cuddle and show fond affection towards each other\u2014and Dad swirled and twirled Kara because \u201che always\u201d twirls his girls.<\/span>

<\/span>
As we drove to the ice cream shop, one of the girls called out \u201ccalendar meeting\u201d at the next stop because when we\u2019re together, \u201cwe always\u201d have calendar meetings. (Joseph, our son-in-law, said that if we were having a calendar meeting, he was staying in the van\u2026.our calendar meetings drive him crazy!)<\/span>

<\/span>
When we went for dessert, two of the girls ran ahead and yelled \u201ccorner family booth\u201d because \u201cwe always\u201d try to squeeze in a corner booth so we can be closer and talk even more. As we talked in our \u201ccorner family booth,\u201d we reminisced about old times because \u201cwe always\u201d do that\u2014and talked about how much fun we had on our last vacation, how important each person\u2019s ministry\/work is and how proud we are of each one, how cute and sweet \u201cthe little boys\u201d are, and on and on.<\/span>

<\/span>
Then, unfortunately, we had to part. We took a long time letting Kara go because \u201cwe always\u201d do that. When we were all going our separate ways, I sent a love note via text\u2014\u201cI love you all \u2018a million times infinity and beyond;\u201d because \u201cI always\u201d write my kids love notes.<\/span>

<\/span>
Our \u201cwe always\u2019s\u201d have become so important to our family. They define us. They make us the Ray Reish family. They bind us and build us up. They make us secure in our place in this world. <\/span>

<\/span>
Some of our \u201cwe always\u2019s\u201d are big\u2014\u201cwe always\u201d exchange siblings gifts on Christmas Eve; \u201cwe always\u201d do a big, expensive family night in December (with a play and dinner out). Many of our \u201cwe always\u2019s\u201d are small\u2014moving the table signs off the table so we can see everybody and reminiscing about vacation. Regardless of whether they are big or small, our \u201cwe always\u201d times build family unity, draw us closer to each other, and make us what we are\u2014a Christian family trying to serve God in our own ways and \u201clove our neighbor as ourselves.\u201d Create “we always” times in your family–your kids will be so glad you did!<\/span>

<\/span>
Note: Couldn\u2019t pass up this opportunity to share our \u201cwe always\u2019s.\u201d I will introduce \u201cJonathan\u2019s Journal\u201d tomorrow\u2014and start on our toddler\/preschool journey.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201dWhat we remember from childhood we remember forever – permanent ghosts, stamped, inked, imprinted, eternally seen.\u201d ~Cynthia OzickWe had one of those nights tonight\u2026.the kind where you enjoy your children more than you ever thought possible. The kind where you think that every sacrifice you ever made was worth it. And every mistake you ever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643,281],"tags":[278,280,277,107,283,305,319,314,311,271,275],"yoast_head":"\nday seventy-five: \u201cwe always\u2026.\u201d - Character Ink<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-seventy-five-we-always\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"day seventy-five: \u201cwe always\u2026.\u201d - Character Ink\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201dWhat we remember from childhood we remember forever – permanent ghosts, stamped, inked, imprinted, eternally seen.\u201d ~Cynthia OzickWe had one of those nights tonight\u2026.the kind where you enjoy your children more than you ever thought possible. 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