I had chocolate milk today with my dinner. This may seem nothing unusual to some people, but I haven't drank chocolate milk since Alex passed. When he was a little boy, we would stir the Hershey's syrup into a glass and Mark would sing a little jingle that him and Alex made up. "Stir, stir, stir the milk, stir, stir, stir the milk, stir stir, stir the milk and MAKE it chocolatey." As the spoon clanked against the glass, there was a little beat in there, too, and sometimes Alex would rock his hips and snap his fingers along with the song. This little song would make Alex laugh EVERYTIME and at dinner, when we used to all sit around the table, everyone would sing it when Mark started to stir, so it became a kind of tradition to ALWAYS sing it when ANYONE had chocolate milk. Just after Thanksgiving this past year, one day Alex was stirring up some chocolate milk and Mark walked in the house from work at that same moment. Mark heard the clanking of the spoon and just started humming the little jingle. ALL of a sudden, Alex burst out in singing, "Stir, stir, stir the milk, stir, stir, stir the milk, stir stir, stir the milk and MAKE it chocolatey."
I started laughing and both of them BURST out, too. The idea that a small song like that could still bring so much joy into our house made me think that we were really some awesome parents. I really don't say that out loud too much, because it almost sounds conceited, but I am darn proud to say it. Even with all our the ups and downs of raising our three kids, I am still so honored to hear anyone tell me what a great mom I am. Overall, this job among all my others has been the most rewarding. All the years growing up and deciding what I wanted to do after high school, I only knew one thing I wanted to do or be, and that was being a mom. All else came in second to that. And just so you ALL know, there is a commercial out showing Hershey's syrup being stirred into a glass and there is a funny song, but MY KIDS can testify that this jingle exsisted LONG before that commercial came out. So, to get back to today. I was stirring the milk, and Alex popped right into my head. His little boy image wasn't even what I saw, which I am sure is what everyone is thinking right now. The image I saw was a 25 year old man standing in the kitchen, laughing with his father and singing, "Stir, stir, stir the milk, stir, stir, stir the milk, stir stir, stir the milk and MAKE it chocolaty."  The drink I had today NEVER tasted so good.