Sunday, August 18, 2013

It was one of those summers middle aged women talk about in self-help books; where the kids have grown and gone off to camp and they find themselves alone with their laundry, their jobs, a dozen realizations that life has passed them by; where you lay the damn book down halfway through and decide to dance to Lyle Lovett in the kitchen just to keep from crying on the bathroom floor.


They grow, you know. One day they go out to play and it isn't just down the street, it's to southern France. You ring the dinner bell and three instead of six sit down to eat.

It's an age-old game, nothing new. There isn't anything anyone can say in a bestseller that will make it any easier. No one is wiser - no one knows better - no one has it figured out. It's the same for each of us, and it will be the same for those after us. 

That is the thought that has made it bearable. I walk with my daughter to the end of the street of an evening just to look out over the fields. She dances in the moonlight; her hair glows; our bare feet pad along the asphalt. 

It was the same for each of us. And it will be the same for those after us.

Tomorrow school starts again, which surprisingly means they're still mine for another year. :)


9 comments:

Meg said...

:( Ugh. Please dont' remind me... I see this everyday that they stand next to me and are a little taller...

TexWisGirl said...

i can imagine your own mother felt the same about you... especially going off to europe.

MarmePurl said...

Empathy. That's all I've got for you this time. But LOTS of it.

Out on the prairie said...

I will have to get Lyle out and listen. I always get a bit nostalgic when school starts.

Ola said...

mine is so little that I do not even think about growing up:)

Nancy said...

I agree with Steve (Out on the prairie) -- even though mine have been out of school for years, this time of year causes me to reflect. :)

Evi said...

C'est bien vrai! On devrait plus profiter de chaque instant où ils sont présents. 'soupir'

Michael Rowland said...

Be there for each moment, mine have been gone a long time, it seems like a dream now that they were small and at home, now it's the grandchildren I see laughing and running around.

Southern Lady said...

With one in her third year of college and one getting her drivers license in November, I can totally relate to this post. Whatever will I do with myself when my baby goes off to school? -Carla