years back when i was pregnant with scout and finn was a toddler,
we started making weekly visits to our neighborhood library.
finn would pick out books and bob the builder videos
{he hadn't discovered science and space quite yet},
and I would peruse books or music.
one day i found a cd titled songs from a parent to a child.
art garfunkle was on the cover with his young son and i was
very excited about my find as art is one of favorite musical talents from
my parent's generation. i grew up listening to him and paul simon and
their concert in central park album as early as i can remember.
i wasn't surprised that i fell in love with the music on this cd too.
i loved all the songs but one in particular titled the things we handed down
resonated with me. originally it was written by mark cohn,
after he learned his wife was pregnant.
maybe it was because i was pregnant and my hormones were in overdrive,
but the song became the song i associate with while pregnant with scout.
the music is beautiful, but it was and is the lyrics that made me think about
what my parents handed down to me, and what i'm handing down as well.
there are so many things my parents gave me but had no control of: the genes
responsible for my thick wavy hair, my green eyes, my freckles, or my energy level,
BUT they did have control of other things...teaching me right from wrong, about music,
about perseverance, hard work and so much more.
i thought about what i was handing down to my boys, and made me more determined
than ever to do a better job with the things i do have control of.
recently, i came across the cd i bought when i was pregnant with scout,
and have been listening to it in my car all week. over the years, i've introduced
it to a lot of people: christopher, my parents, mommy friends, and i even bought a copy
and gave to my sister, leslie when she was pregnant with her daughter aria.
if you haven't heard the song yet, let me be the first to introduce to you.
