A Soft Place To Land...

Have you ever fallen?  I have.  There is actually a scar on my knee that is there to always remind me of that fall.  I was returning some library books when the children were young, lost my footing and down I went.  Books tumbled as I reached for my bloody knee and then looked around quickly to see who also caught my misstep.  I slowly made it to my feet, returned the books and hobbled out to my vehicle.  That sidewalk definitly was not a "soft" place to land.  Even many years later, I can look at that scar and it reminds me of a rough fall I took and recovered from.  It also made me wish that I had fallen in a "softer" spot...

Thinking about things is what I do.  Sometimes one might notice that I have left their presence while still sitting amongst them, eyes glazed over.  My mind wanders off and ponders many things.  And while rubbing my hand across that old scar on my knee the other day, I traveled off on one of my "journeys of the mind".  Thinking about a "softer" spot to land made me also consider the creation of a "soft spot to land" within one's family.

When Robby and I decided to become parents, it became our job to nurture our children.  Oh, not just to provide a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs and put food in their little stomaches, but to nurture their spirits as well.  That task was not very difficult when they were still small and within the confines of our home every day, however, at some point, they had to make their entrance into the "real" world, where thing are often not as loving and friendly.

I can still remember dropping my children off at school in the mornings.  The trip was quite a distance from where we lived and I still had that precious,  magical morning time to visit with them on our daily ride; the time before anyone else was allowed into "our" little world.  Many mornings found them tucked into blankets with hot chocolate and bits of breakfast still clutched within their hands.  And then it would happened...the doors to the vehicle would quickly be jerked open by some overly anxious teacher, already moving at warp speed to get her day started, and there they went...out into the "real" world.

Obviously, we parents cannot always protect our children from the "real" world or the individuals who live there, who are not privvy to "our" world's standards.  And that is exactly when one realizes that creating a "soft place to land" is of the utmost importance.  What exactly is a "soft" place?  It is a "safe" place.  A place very much like a coccoon, where once inside, one finds a warms place to curl up, recharge, regroup and often times lick wombs.  It is a place where true feelings can be voiced without fear of rejection or being made fun of.  Once created, this "soft" spot becomes a fixture that cannot be destroyed by any force.  When the winds blow the members to and fro, there is always a safe, "soft" place to land.  This group of individuals is called "family";  they are there to catch you, tuck you safely within the confines of the coccoon and continue to cradle you there until you are able to resurface once again.

"Family"...that's "our" soft place to land.  I am so glad that Robby and I created this coccoon, this safe place, a "soft place to land" for our children.  Dorothy must have had a similar place in her world, for she was right..."There IS no place like HOME".