fridge-worthy

my parents and i love to display family photos on our refrigerators. between our two households, i think we do more than our share of keeping the magnetic picture-frame companies in business. my parents’ fridge is mostly covered in photos of family. the two of them in an idyllic spot in sweden, a little red stuga on a lake behind them; my brother and his family at their home in vermont; numerous photos of my nephew, their grandchild; and a few random shots of me taken in florida, wisconsin, and at home. my fridge has a mixture of photos of family and friends, most of whom live far away.

last night david and i had dinner with my mom, keeping her company while dad was away at a work-related retreat. when we entered the kitchen, i went to the fridge to see what, if any, new artwork done by my nephew may have appeared. there, near the bottom of the fridge, was a piece of paper with a five-year-old’s sketch of a red bicycle. taped to that paper was another paper with the carefully written words, THIS IS MY BIKE. so cool.

as i began to stand up, my eyes trailed up the face of the fridge until they settled on a photo of david and me, and i smiled. it’s one i posted here a few weeks ago of the two of us against the backdrop of chicago at night. my mom had asked me to print out a copy of that photo, as well as the photo of her and my dad taken in the same spot. just a few weeks earlier, she had asked me if things with david were serious enough that she should start putting pictures of us up on the fridge. that made me laugh. and then i told her they were. so, david, if you read this, congratulations! you’re fridge-worthy!


and now, completely switching gears . . .

take a look/listen here.