The Time of My Life...

It's that time of year when parents across the country are dealing, for the first time perhaps, with children leaving from home to go to college. A friend who is going through this for the first time indicated, "I miss the mommy years!" You know, I do too. Which got me to thinking...

When my husband and I were first dating, it was exciting to talk to each other and get letters (yes snail mail!). Our courtship was actually mostly long distance as he was stationed in California and I was in London for the majority of it. But it was exciting! And I loved that stage in my life!

Then we got married. And that was all new and exciting! We were transferred to Athens, Greece, and essentially had a three year honeymoon. How bad can that be?! I loved that stage of life.

Then #1 son arrived. And we became parents! How fun! How exciting. We loved every one of those years. Within two years, his sister arrived on the scene. So for the next 18 years, we were in the "parent mode" constantly. It was fun! These were the mommy years, and they were great. I loved that stage of life.

A couple years ago, son and daughter each moved out. It was a crazy summer. Dear husband was transferred to DC, son moved to PA, daughter went off to college. We sold a house in one town and bought one in another. When I arrived there it was just dear husband and me. Three bedrooms but no one to fill them. A new phase... how would this play out? This was the "dreaded empty nest" I had heard so much about. For years our lives had revolved around soccer games, cheer camps, school board meetings, youth group chaperoning... what would we do with ourselves?

So here we are in this stage of our lives. I will admit, we are one of the blessed couples. We woke up one morning after relocating to DC and discovered it was just the two of us. We looked around... We looked at each other... and said, "Hey, I remember you!" and better yet... we discovered we still like each other. Oh, yeah, we still love each other too, but we LIKE each other. We have embarked on yet another phase of our lives. And it is awesome. It is exciting! I love this stage of life!

Jay-Bird

Today is the second memorial service for my dear nephew Jason, who passed away on Dec. 20 just 6 months before his 30th birthday. As a family, we were able to gather together last week to bid him farewell in our hometown. His mom (my sister) wanted to spread some of his ashes on our mom's grave. Those of us who could get there gathered at the grave site. It was a gray, wintry day. My sister-in-law, she is awesome, had arrived early and shoveled a path through the 6" or so of snow. My dear husband offered a simple prayer that spoke volumes about how we were all feeling in struggling to understand this loss. Then my sister, her daughter, and husband spread some of Jay-bird's ashes. We stood there in the quiet, all grieving in our hearts, tears welling in our eyes, or just running down our faces, not a sound. Not even a whisper in the trees. The gray sky hung low overhead. As we turned to walk away, my attention was drawn to the sky. A small sliver of sun somehow shone through that blanket of snow clouds. Just a small glimmer of our mom? A bit of a twinkle from Jay-bird? Or both?
A couple days later my niece posted a picture on her facebook page. She had been skiing in Wyoming that weekend. The picture on the front page caught her eye. It was a bright red cardinal sitting on a snowy branch. Her grandmother (my mom) had always loved birds, and especially cardinals. Then she read the caption. The picture was taken over 1500 miles from there in a small suburb of Cleveland... the suburb where we were bidding our farewells to Jay-bird.
I don't know what you call it, but I call that hope.