An End

Today is the last day of Summer.

Yes, I am aware that the calendar dictates that summer actually extends until September 21st. And at 110, the weather outside would suggest that summer is still going strong.

Yet today is still the final day of Summer.

Tomorrow I release my children into the open arms of the public education system. I'm fortunate. I really like our school.

Once again I stand a jumble of emotions. On one side I am so happy for my children and all they'll learn and do. School is exciting and I am excited for them. I'm glad they have a love of learning and I want to encourage that. On the other side I am hesitant to let them go. I long to keep them by my side, safe and sound, always. They are my babies, why won't they stay babies?

But everyday, despite my best efforts, they grow and become their own people, and distance themselves from their parents in tiny immeasurable ways. One day I will wake up and they'll be gone, and I won't know how it happened. All those tiny ways they grow and gain independence add up. And this is as it should be.

But it doesn't mean I have to like it.

As I look back on this summer I will remember it as one happy summer. I'll forget the bickering and the times I wanted to sell them to the circus, or abandon them in Wal-Mart.

I will remember:

-dinners with friends
-grilled everything
-swimming, swimming, and more swimming
-the smell of sunscreen
-Fourth of July
-the miracles of modern medicine
-peaches
-night swimming past bedtime
-did I mention good friends?

All the truly important things in life: laughter, giggle, sticky kisses, love. They were all present in abundance this summer. I am grateful for the life I have been blessed with.

It was a wonderful summer. I wave it a sad good-bye.

Is it too soon to start counting the days until the next summer?