Family Time

When you are part of a family with young children, almost all of your free time is spent as family time.  Lots of that time is spent preparing, cleaning, managing, etc but a lot of the time is spent playing, laughing, bonding.  You appreciate it, know that you are blessed, but there is so much time together that you don't always slow down to just BE IN THE PRESENT and enjoy the sweet moments of togetherness.

Three years ago today, Ramesh and Raji lost their dad, Radha lost her husband, Josh and I lost our father-in-law, the kids lost their Badappa, and heaven welcomed a great soul.  Today we had a wonderful day full of family time and throughout the day, we thought of our Dad/Badappa and we remembered to be in the present.

On our way to Seattle to see the play The Frog Prince.

Checking out dad's office for the first time. 

Badappa is very much a part of our kids' lives.  We keep his memory alive by the pictures of him we have up in the house, the stories we tell of him when they are going to bed at night, and in Ben and Mesh sharing his middle name "Subramaniam".

Ram was a magnificent father, the kind of dad that broke into a wide grin when his children walked in the room because he always felt such an enourmous amount of love and pride for them.  As the wife of his son, I am forever grateful for the wonderful dad that he was to my husband.  Mesh learned by example how to make our kids feel like the center of the universe; how to love unconditionally. Thank you Ram.  We love you.

And now since I'm crying and this video makes me giggle, features Ben "Subu" Iyer, and shows Mesh being a sweet Dad...I leave you with this short video and challenge you to find a sweeter voice.