Gratitude for the Ability to Slow Down & Be Present

We said good-bye to the best dog, a sweet Boxador named Capone, a few weeks ago. As my daughter was trying to fall asleep tonight, she started thinking about him & crying. I laid down with her while she cried, while she asked all the questions I wish I had answers to. And then I just sat there and snuggled her, & I didn't feel any desire to get up.
I feel comfortable sitting with other's feelings, but these last years, the working-full-time, raising-two-kids, and-we-don't-have-a-cleaning-lady-either years, I've tried to "solve" things as quickly as possible so that I can move on to the next thing on the to-do list. Sometimes life feels like one eternal to-do list.  Something clicked right for me tonight, though.  I shut off the to-do agenda, I shut off the anxiety that so often makes me want to move, & I just sat with my daughter & her sadness & her questions. 
And it felt right. The dishes will eventually get done (or if it gets really bad, we can just throw them out & start over). Tonight, I was exactly where I needed to be, doing exactly what I needed to do with someone I love more than life itself, & it felt so good.  Tonight, I feel gratitude for the ability to feel so present with my daughter when she needed me.