When I began working on this page for my
girls, I had a specific goal in mind. I knew what I wanted it to be and what I
wanted it to tell about our family. As time passed and my inevitable delusions
of grandeur took over, the concept became boggled. This isn't an uncommon thing
to have happen to me. I often become engulfed in minute details. I fuss and
fidget over a seemingly endless series of fleeting ideas about what I want to
present as a commentary on who we are and how I want to go about doing
so.
After two months
of this wishy-washiness, I had an encounter that put things back into
perspective. Let's call it a collision with simplicity. I was driving along the
freeway, on the way back from the mall with the girls. Estee was sitting in the
back with Isobel. I tend to let my thoughts wander when I'm driving (not the
safest thing, I know) and so I didn't really hear what they were doing. The
tiniest tinkling of laughter brought me back from my imaginings. Estee was
making a silly sound and it evidentally tickled Isobel into laughter. I couldn't
believe my ears. I had been waiting for this sound for so long and here it was.
I choked back tears and swerved (only a little) to miss the car in the lane
beside me. She was 8 months old and she was finally expressing joy!
I was very
excited about this emerging skill. I told everyone I knew about Isobel's
laughter. My closest family members and friends shared my enthusiasm; others
that weren't so close gave a nervous smile and seemed confused by my glee. Why
wouldn't they be confused? None of them had walked down the path of my life.
None of them could understand the beauty of this simple accomplishment. I didn't
hold it against them. They were lucky to not have to be overjoyed and relieved
and grateful because their child had laughed. However, I was all of those things
and more. It was shortly after this incident that I realized how much I took for
granted the simple things in life. It sounds so cliche but, when you have a
child like Isobel, you can't afford to take anything for granted. You have to
revel in the simple things because there are days when they are everything or
all you have or the best there is.
I began to
reexamine this project and realized how far off track I had become. I was so
caught up in wanting to create this elaborate site full of interesting graphics,
cool interaction and compelling text that I had forgotten the most important
aspect of designing a site....being a storyteller. The Amazing Campbell Girls
are just that, amazing! Their story is interesting, cool and compelling all by
itself. No amount of java is going to change who they are. I needed to get back
to basics and it took the long awaited laughter of a baby to bring me back down
to earth. I hope you enjoy their stories. Their tales change everyday; they
are built upon, just as Estee and Isobel's characters are built upon, and I feel
so incredibly blessed to be a part of that process. I hope as their mother, I
can always be a key figure in the ever-changing novel known as their lives. I
know God put me here for that purpose and I will do the very best to help their
stories become a commentary about the best life has to offer.
