The Moments That Matter

Auguste Renoir’s Child with Toys - Gabrielle and the Artist's Son, Jean

Dear Parents,

My mom broke her hip unexpectedly in early June this year. It happened just before the wedding of our very own Grace Seto (now Luu) on June 3, so after the ceremony I made my first visit to see her.

I realized very shortly after getting there that there was no leaving, her needs were so great. My whole family (me, my dad, and three brothers) all took turns sitting with my mom, advocating for her and helping out where we could. With few exceptions, I was by her side for the next six weeks for multiple hours each day, sometimes up to ten. There were even times I spent the night with her, attempting sleep in a recliner in the rehab center, blue jeans on and all.

After she was released from rehab it was another six weeks or so where we were splitting time attending to her physical needs, managing appointments and visits from nurses, and spending quality time with her.

While both the injury and the aftermath were extremely traumatic for everyone involved, I realized, in the midst of it all, that it was the most time I had spent with her in eighteen years. Before I got married, my mom and I used to spend most evenings together, even weekend nights, laughing and playing with our little dachshund, Scout.

But after marriage and a baby, then a job, a move, and a promotion, that break-neck pace just got the best of me. I fell in line like most of us — going from one thing to the next ad infinitum.

I wouldn’t exchange all that time spent with my mom for anything. What a gracious gift from our Heavenly Father that my mom’s accident happened over the summer holiday. It wasn’t what I was expecting or planning, but I was able to be present for her and my family in this time of need and for that I am extremely grateful.

‘Tis the season for a spirit of gratefulness.

As I sat down to write this letter, I looked at the calendar. Exams are already happening, and Thanksgiving is next week. Shortly after that is Grandparents Day, followed by all the flurry of Christmas season special activities at school and at home. Nativity Chapel and the Christmas Program precede our Christmas break and then we enter another new year.

In the swirl of the upcoming season, let us all remember to be grateful and present for the moments that matter: family dinners around the table, reading aloud together, fellowshipping with our church families on the weekends, and visiting elderly family members or neighbors as time allows.

Time moves at such a frenetic pace this time of year, and it is easy to get caught up in the tyranny of the urgent, forgetting about what really matters: our families, connecting with our children, and reaching out to others.

I am so grateful for this community of Ambleside families to share work with that really matters.

Affectionately,

Krise Nowak, M.Ed.
Head of School