Happy Birthday

My gift is just to say,

I thought of you today.

FREEDOM

Internet Photo

Celebrate FREEDOM with the best anthem ever.

Have a groovy Independence Day!

List of Lasts

My son just graduated from high school. Several months before the big event, I noticed an interesting phenomenon. As Will's senior year progressed, he'd point out that a particular event was going to be his "last." Football games, concerts and dances were each noted and checked off, like items on some adolescent version of “The Bucket List.”

“This is the last time I’ll wear my drum major’s uniform,” he sighed, while preparing to lead the marching band in the Loyalty Day Parade.

“This is my last high school stage performance,” he thought, after taking a curtain call for the musical “Big River.”

He expressed it in his farewell address at commencement, “Our joy dims when we realize that…each day we enter this school becomes one closer to the last.” I couldn't help but feel his outlook was a little sad, that each experience may have become tainted by focusing on the bitter rather than the sweet.

As it turned out, Will's perspective wasn’t as negative as I feared. He wasn't bemoaning the end of high school or expressing reluctance to graduate to the next stage in life. He was just stating, matter of factly, that it’s been a year of mixed emotions, including both nostalgia for the past and anticipation of the future.

I began to wonder if I could view this pivotal year with a healthy balance of emotion. I came up with my own "list of lasts. These seemingly insignificant daily rituals have been honed and polished into touchstones over sixteen years of sending kids off to school.

It’s the last time I‘ll…
~Wash a gym suit.
~Remind someone to pack a lunch.
~Shout, “Do your best.” as he races out the door for school.
~Nag about homework and clarinet practicing.
~Pick up dirty socks.
~Answer more phone calls for him than for myself.

It's the bittersweet end of an era`and I'm approaching the empty nest years with mixed emotions. Now who’s got a negative attitude?

Happy Father's Day!

Eighteen!

What's That You Say?

Good morning…
I said, GOOD MORNING!

Sorry, I’m having trouble hearing you for all the BANGING
and POUNDING… on the roof!

What’s that? Yes, OUR house….
We’re getting a new roof today.

Oh, you mean THESE houses.
CUTE, aren’t they?
No, I didn’t make them.
They’re from a doll quilt my friend Barb
made for me several years ago.
SWEET little neighborhood, isn’t it?

Tell you what, let's talk again another day.
I can’t concentrate with ALL THIS NOISE!

Added later:
After 12 hours of banging and hammering,
we all have headaches and a lovely new roof.

Two Cents Worth

My son had to mail a letter yesterday. It was an unremarkable document in a postage paid envelope. Under normal circumstances, it could have been dropped into any nearby mailbox, including the one at the end of our driveway.

I remembered that postal rates had recently increased, and suggested he have the letter checked at the post office. Sure enough, the envelope required an additional two cent stamp. My son had exact change, two flat pennies, which he pulled from his pocket and slapped on the counter.

Assuming this simple transaction was complete, he turned to leave. The postal worker called him back. “Don’t forget your receipt!”

This is what she handed him…. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Is it any wonder that postage keeps increasing? There’s got to be two cents worth of ink and paper in that receipt!