Transition

The sunny skies and warm temperatures say summer is still here, but the school calendar tells a different story. Public schools are back in session, and for the first time ever I wasn't taking a first-day-of-school portrait of my kids.

Tomorrow is a big day for our daughter as we take her off to college to begin her new life as a freshman. Our son--a college senior!--is settled into his new apartment and ready for a big year, too.

There's nothing like seeing your kids grow up to make you realize how quickly time passes. The house is going to seem very quiet for a while as we adjust to this "new normal." I'll shed some tears for sure, but I know it's all good. We are indeed blessed.

The future is now

From the minute our children are born--and even before--we moms instinctively want to protect them. That instinct drives so many of our decisions and actions. We know we can't control the world, but we try anyway.

We also know that the time will come when they'll leave home. When they're babies, it seems we have all the time in the world to be with them. We chronicle their achievements, their milestones. We cheer them on and help them learn. Time is on our side.

But the future comes more quickly than we'd imagined. We will no longer see their daily actions, their comings and goings, the choices they're making. Eighteen years fly by, and then suddenly they're on to new adventures. The instinct to protect doesn't go away, but we have to step back and take a new perspective on what it means to be a mom.



This weekend we moved our son to college. He is so excited, so joyful, so ready. I already miss his presence in the house, his voice, the pounding of his feet down the stairs. But this is how it was meant to be. We give them our protection, our guidance, our unconditional love. And then, with our blessings, we have to let them go.

Note: The photo above was taken as a test for my "new" Polaroid 230 Land camera. Seems it works!