Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The Kindness of Making Pretty Things Happen

"Isn't it pretty to think so?"
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

The Hemingway quote is the last line of The Sun Also Rises.  It has stayed with me since I first read it decades ago because I think it captures how we look at things that might have been.  Sometimes, there are things that we wish or think about, but they are truly only "pretty to think so."  I was thinking about the line today and how it relates to a friend of mine who has an amazing ability to make pretty things happen.

My friend thinks of all kinds of wonderful things to do -- frequently memories to make with our children -- and then she makes whatever it is happen.  Thanks to her, her family has all kinds of great adventures.  And thanks to her kindness, my family has been able to share in the pretty things that she makes happen. 

As with a possible romance between Hemingway's characters Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley, there are some ideas that are only pretty to think so.  But there are many other pretty things that someone's thoughtfulness, planning and determination make happen.

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