a week off

Relief to my hands came during a week in Florida. Even though the air was chilly, there was still enough humidity to soften my rough hands, and heal the cracks on the corners of my thumbs. My hands had a week off, so to speak. Its obvious they are important to me, as I have written about them before. I find so much to do with them! But the cold winters, the frequent hand washing and "foaming" at the hospital, not to mention all the other work I do with them and their age, bring them a good deal of discomfort. So I'm constantly treating my dry hands, and looked forward to their healing during this past week visiting my sister in Florida. Yup, took only a day and they were well.

My mother used to say she didn't like to wear extra rings or bracelets as they would draw attention to her hands. Her hands are beautiful with age, I think, but they used to be really pretty. Mine weren't bad either, until recent years when age met up with them. Sigh.  Just following a bit behind my mother dear.

I love caring for people with my hands (and feeding our Little One), but by far the most favorite thing about my hands is the sparkling "bling" my boyfriend decorated my left hand with years ago when we had just moved up from teenagers to 20. Our feet were dangling off a cliff overlooking the Hudson River. I said yes and the ring fit perfectly. I was happy to show off my hands back then! But even better than that sparkler is the simple gold band, signifying our belonging to each other and a love that just grows stronger, having stood the test of time.  So much to be thankful about, even as age knocks on the door. (I can hear someone saying, "Can you throw a little more syrup on this post?")