The Rain

There is something magical about a rainy day. It's especially magic when it's quiet enough that you can hear the drops falling on the roof. It's soothing. The gloomy, rainy days of Seattle are like a dream come true for me. I must be very different from most people, but my spirit is lifted when I wake up to a rainy, cloudy day. The smells of a rainy day are so intense for me they awaken my senses and most often bring a smile to my face. Nobody else in my family shared this love for the rain with me, or so I thought, until the other day when Frankie gave me this picture he painted at preschool. I asked him what it was and he told me it was "the rain." This started a long conversation with him about the rain - a perfect opportunity to pick his brains! His eyes had a special light when he talked about it and his face was lit with enjoyment when he told me how much he liked the noise the rain made against the window of the car. He told me the rain was cold and that he liked to open his mouth to drink it (???) but most important of it all, he told me the rain made him happy. I do know it's true now because I watch him looking out the window when it's raining, when we are driving; I can check him out in the rear view mirror and he has a smile in his face...I often ask him if he is happy because of the rain and he answers with a big "YES!" It makes me wonder sometimes if being in Seattle is not only an opportunity to get help for our son and to provide a better life for all of us but also, in some special way, if this little piece of heaven was always meant to be home for us...I know that so far, Frankie and I are enjoying the rain, the smells it awakens from the earth, the soothing sounds it makes when it falls and the promise of a better tomorrow it often brings along.