quite possibly my favorite moment from the long weekend

Driving around town with my two sisters, ages twenty-four and ten, doing errands for our mother's birthday party the next day.

Getting hungry and slightly tired, irritation and annoyances kicked in.

In a burst of inspiration, I did my best to explain my theory of creating a "love symbol" in your mind, a thing or a place or a moment or a person that resembles love to you. Then attaching that symbol where love is needed--to someone who's annoying you, to a feeling of anger towards something, to yourself and any of your own self-destructive thoughts (usually where mine's needed). I explained the importance of spreading positive energy to come back to us through time, instead of ill will and negativity.

"You mean, like a cat? I love cats," Mary offered.

I assured her the thought of a cat was perfect. It symbolized her ridiculously sweet adoration of all things feline, and her own cat's love for her, too. Ten year olds can't get much sweeter, really.

A few minutes later, an over-zealous driver struggled to take turns merging, causing us to put on the brakes and slow down to let him in and avoid a crash. Rachel let out a frustrated sigh, voicing her irritation at inconsiderate drivers.

Not a second later, we heard giggling coming from the backseat. When we asked Mary what was so funny, she responded, pointing at the car in front of us, "Look! There's a cat sitting on the roof of that man's car!"

It took a second for us to realize that she was, in fact, attaching her love symbol, literally.

Addendum: I got this in an email from Rachel this morning.

Also, yesterday when we were getting ready for the party, I was getting frustrated about something but trying to stay positive, and Mary called out from her room, where she was cleaning, "LOVE SYMBOL!!!!"

I just love sisters.