For as long as I can remember I have always had something fun to do on the Fourth of July. There has always been someone hosting a big party or Mike and I have been traveling. I don’t recall ever just sitting at home with no destination in mind. This year was far different from any of my previous celebrations and I found the experience to be enlightening.
Virtually everyone with whom I normally celebrate was out of town this year. I suppose that the four day weekend that most people had allowed them to travel a bit farther from home and they took advantage of the opportunity. My brother who so often opened up his beach home was in the far north of the United States. My eldest daughter who has hosted pool parties at her house for several years was in the midwest in anticipation of her eldest son’s orientation at Purdue this week. Mike and I had stayed in town because I was finishing up my term at summer school and we were planning a trip in early August. Continue reading “A Remarkable Unremarkable Day”
Be careful! Do not blink! While your eyes are averted time will slip alway from you. When you think to look again the hours and the days and the months and the years will be gone. The baby that you once held in your arms will be an adult. The long nights that you spent without sleep will be little more than a memory. The skinned knees, hurt feelings, and ceaseless questions from that tiny little one will become less frequent. You will watch as a child that once totally depended on you pushes away, becomes independent. It will make you both proud and a tiny bit sad as you watch the cycle of life play out before your very eyes. The thing that you hoped would happen does and it is a bittersweet moment. Love is giving your children wings and hoping that they will fly away to experience adventures of their own. It is the way of life and it happens sooner than you may ever think, so cherish every single opportunity that you have to enjoy your babies for soon enough, if you have done your job well, they will need to walk away so that they might be on their own. 
I have to admit that I’m a competitive person and a control freak. I love having everything around me well organized. I’m one of those people who has to take a deep breath to keep from overreacting when I see rowdy children who are taking advantage of their mothers and making the rest of us miserable with their noise and bad behavior. I like order and design around me. I like being in charge of my domain and so when my mother was alive she and I would often vie for position, even as far back as when I was a child. I was one of those quiet, passive aggressive souls who looked really good to those on the outside but tried my mom’s patience back at home. She was always a bit baffled by my independent spirit as though she never thought to consider that I had modeled myself after her. While my brothers generally conformed to her wishes I was constantly questioning her. I suspect that it was exhausting for her to continually find herself wondering why I was so strong willed. We were, in fact, two of a kind! 
There comes a moment in life when time becomes more and more precious. There is a realization that one’s end may come sooner rather than later. Relationships and adventures are like treasures, not to be taken for granted. As someone who is watching the acceleration of time and enduring the loss of special people more and more frequently, I understand the urge to snatch happiness wherever it may be found. So it was with a spirit of great joy that I attended a quite wonderful and special wedding in Galveston this past weekend. 
All It Takes Is A Little Love 