Juggling baby Charlie on my hip, Lauren and Carolyn tagged behind me as we entered the house. Five pm Speech Therapy for Carolyn to practice her “s’s” had run late so now the witching hour to feed the children was upon me. Flipping on the light, relief hit as I heard the crock pot gurgling remembering I had the ingeniousness to dump and stir a meal into the beast of a pot before the day began. Setting Charlie down on the kitchen floor, he began toddling towards his cabinet of toys.

Lauren and Carolyn took turns stepping on the stool to wash their hands and chattered constantly. Careful to maneuver between these lil munchkins of mine surrounding my legs and under my feet, I heard Carolyn saying something causing Lauren to crack up. Wanting to write it down, I scanned the counter for something to write on seeing only crayons and construction paper until my eye landed on the cookbook propped open next to the crock pot. I quickly scribbled the comment in the margin of the open recipe. As the children grew, the margins filled. Carolyn’s quick wit would cause someone to laugh and yell “Write it in the Cookbook”. Now looking back at life’s moments written in the margins, I realize the true recipe for life is found in the unexpected.