intimacy

i read this on another blog this morning and it really made me think:

A woman lies in bed at 3am awake one night, she asks her partner to tell her a story beginning with one word as inspiration; she provides him the word (fish), and he proceeds to tell her a sweet and insightful story about his childhood relationship with his father, and how they used to go on camping & fishing trips together (the only thing they ever did together) once a year. Of course these trips were about more than the catch. The man realized that he watched his Dad’s every move in how he carefully prepared the line, waited with silent patience for the fish, and then with massive strength and courage, would reel it in with all his might sweating and shirtless—until the wriggling fish surrendered to his knife. He said the dinner they ate together on the shores of the river, just the two of them, was the best he ever had. They spent the weekend without a bath, pitching their tent wherever they wished yet respecting their environment, and each night, devoured a fresh and tasty reward for dinner. They sat for hours by the little but warm fire his Dad built for them the moment the sun began to set. In those hours, his Dad would sometimes take his sweater off himself and place it on him. He loved these hours. And the closeness, the sharing, the undistracted attention two people experience when alone with each other.

Time alone with those we love is not often enough. And when we get it, what do we do with it? Do we make it rich, memorable—a story worth telling when someone asks us to tell one?

i love the intimate moments shared by the father and son on their camping trips. it makes me think of the precious, intimate moments my mother and sister and i shared back a few years ago when we were going through some rough family times. through the hard times and struggles, we ended up spending more quality time with eachother and became closer than ever. the two of them are absolutely my best friends and even though we shared some incredibly difficult times, i wouldn't trade those intimate moments we spent sharing and getting to know eachother on a deeper level.

another special memory i have was before Ryan and i got married. we were  going through marriage counseling which forced us to do some examining and sharing of our hopes for the future and what we expect from eachother and our marriage. i still remember those sweet, intimate moments when we were discussing our love needs (his is unconditional love, acceptance, and respect), the amount of children we want to have, finances, and intimacy. i just remember feeling so close to him.

both of these memories are from years ago. i want to be better about making time for closeness and intimacy with the ones i love. and now just weeks away from being a mommy, it makes me think about all of the intimate times i plan on sharing with my sweet baby daughter... late night feedings and snuggles, bedtime stories, rocking and singing her to sleep. i just can't wait!