What to say…other than we closed out Summer with a confident bang. Today is officially the last day. And I guess I’m comfortable with saying it’s over. The beginning of school always holds a certain promise of hope. Hope for learning. Hope for friendship. Hope for growth. And I can jump on board with a new box of crayons and a bundle of freshly sharpened pencils like nobody’s business. But the truth is…I miss my kids. I miss them in the mornings around 10:00 when we would be just getting around to breakfast. And I can be known to flip the TV to a show like Full House while I putter around, cleaning and straightening my living room/kitchen workplace…just because it reminds me of when they were just here. Those Tanners…well…they can be comforting companions to a lonely mama.
The problem is…as we begin counting down the days to things like Halloween, Birthdays, Christmas, Spring Break…and then Summer again…the kids just keep on getting older. Which is a good thing. I mean…that’s what they’re supposed to do, right? But when the next Summer…this magical, laid back place were this family likes to live rolls on back around, those kids will be a whole year older. And an 8th grader; a 6th grader; a 4th grader; and walking Annslee in to pre-school is just not something that I am prepared to wrap my brain around yet. I know what you’re thinking. I’m getting too far ahead of myself. But that’s what we mothers do sometimes. We look ahead…in order to stay grounded where we are. In order to not wish away time. In order to fully savor these moments we are in. I can’t let them slip through my fingers. They are too precious…
Like Chase calling me into the room to show me that he made The Million Dollar Quartet our of legos:
And a perfectly magical beach trip with friends…
where we frequently felt the pull of the wave take over…
to carry us…
…to carry us to shore. To safety. Home.
This is pure magic…these moments. Pure happiness.
Preparations to witness the sun set over the Beach…and to toast the end of Summer and the next school year:
and making it…
It’s pure magic…these moments. Pure happiness, indeed.