Some prompts are meant to be transformed and that’s what happened with Stacey’s prompt over at #verselove for me today. Her prompt was about memories from mama’s kitchen, but instead I picked up on her “I’ve been writing this since…” line.

When I think of kitchens, I think of my husband. He’s the resident chef in our family and the one who makes food happen for me and our extended family. But I didn’t really write about food or the kitchen, instead that refrain conjured the power of the ordinary and its translation into love.

The Joy of the Ordinary

I’ve been writing this

since the day you walked into my life

making conversation easy for once

as we talked through that entire first evening

everyone and everything disappeared

but you

I’ve been writing this

for decades

through our youth and childrearing

sickness and health

frustration and excitement

boredom and change

learning from each other, with each other

embracing the inevitable messiness that life serves up

I’ve been writing this

as I’ve learned to value the ordinary

daily dependability

Love

I taste in the meals you make day in and day out

Love

I hear in days that start and end with I love you

Love

I smell in freshly mown grass or the flowers you decided I needed just because

Love

I see in your attention to detail about all things family

Love

I feel in the warm hugs that defy distance

packed in a text, a phone call, a note in my lunchbox

a whisper in my ear

I’ll be writing this

forever

spending a lifetime

with you