Three

Its's a Magic Number

We have THREE in our family and that's a magic number.

You may be chuckling if you remember that song from "SchoolHouse Rock." It's true for my family though--we are three and that's our magic number.

We are a triangle family -- Mom and Valerie and Kenneth -- one at each point of the triangle. 
Sometimes we are EQUILATERAL -- all three of us occupying an equal amount of space and effort and time in the family.
But that's pretty rare.


It feels pretty good when we get here. All three of us laughing together, or working together.

Sometimes, though, it feels to me like we are ISOSCELES -- Mom's side of the triangle is shorter that theirs -- on those days when I feel short-changed, frustrated, harassed -- when no one will do their chore, or pick up after themselves, or demand more of me than I think I can give.



 But on the eve of Valentine's Day, I want my children to know a little more about triangles. Specifically, I want them to know about Pythagoras' theorem.


Because the theorem shows that when we are RIGHT -- at right angles, or right with one another--when we acknowledge the enormous amount of work and love and effort each of us puts into our family--  then the larger area takes up all the smaller ones.

No matter how big what we do or what we demand seems to the rest of the family, our family can contain it all. We will always have each other, no matter what.

I will always love you. I will always be there for you. I will always care about how you are, and I will always love who you are.

NO MATTER WHAT.

Happy Valentine's Day to my darlings. WE are a magic number.