Life Changing...

About this time each year, I feel an internal shift as summer winds down into fall and the kids go back to school.  Soon, the air will begin to feel cooler, our days will be shorter, and our easy family life will pick up speed, racing head long into autumn with barely a breath to spare before the holidays.  So, as I think about the coming school year, I can't believe how much our lives have changed in recent years.

This weekend, I found myself wondering about life changing events.  First, I met a lovely young lady in my Saturday morning yoga class. She was a beautiful bride-to-be looking forward to walking down the aisle that evening. I was touched that she chose to share a part of her special day with me and I can only imagine the many special life changing moments waiting for her in the years to come.   Later, I found myself sharing baby stories at the baby shower for our family's newest edition...my cousin's little girl, Emory Kate.  I had been working all week on her baby gift, and I don't know if it was the fun I had testing various shades of pink or the joy I of painting rainbows and clouds, but I kept remembering clearly those tender moments before the birth of my own daughter and how peaceful I felt.

It's funny how life changing events seem to unfold...some expected and long anticipated, others more surprising, and still others so gentle and subtle that we are rarely aware of their significance until we look back and realize how much things have changed.  I remember writing my name over and over again the night before my wedding, thinking how odd it would be to have a new last name.  I remember clearly how much my own life changed at the birth of our son and then shifted again when our daughter came along.  I remember my children's tentative first days of kindergarten and recently esprinted those moments again as our kids entered middle and high school.  I remember losses, successes, career changes and relocations...and still our lives continue to evolve.

Our son is 16 years old now and planning on driving to school and just yesterday, we registered his car for a school parking permit.  And even as he doesn't recognize how much his life is beginning to change, I, too, am working through my own life changing moments...adjusting to life with teenagers, multiple careers, life in this old farm house.  I'm looking  back with a bit of a sigh, I'm afraid, but still looking forward to whatever tomorrow might bring!