The In-Between

Father’s Day has come and gone. It was the first without my dad. I was filled with so many emotions. It was also the last first without my dad. My daughter has graduated high school. My family came that could make it. It was my first and my last high school graduation with her. Soon we will get on a plane, the two of us…not the first….but the first and last time I will be taking her to university. So many first and lasts…..don’t you think?

Maybe the first and last is just the beginning and ending of a chapter….and life is all of the stuff in-between. I sit and listen to the conversations between my daughter and her friends, realizing they are all about to set off on their own journey of first and lasts. My wish for them is to not dwell on these first and last moments – but to cherish the in-between and live a full and happy life. These girls, this sacred circle of friends, will always be the little girls I made a tea party for….gave them advice when they didn’t ask for it….laughed with them as they sat on my kitchen floor…these in-between moments of life.

As I hugged one of them good-bye, I realized this was the last time. As she cried on my shoulder, I wiped her tears away for the last time. She, too, will be going off to university and I thank her parents for letting her be a part of my in-between.

And so here it is, one of those last times my house will be filled with girlish laughter, smell of them having baked cookies, me having to clean up their mess. My heart is full…..my head hurts from all the noise, but, hey, that’s the in-between stuff. As I have watched them grow the past four years, listened to them moan and groan about this and that, I never thought of it as a first or last – just an in-between moment of life I was blessed to share with them.

For all of you parents who read this – cherish the in-between – know that you have raised your children to be strong, independent, and beautiful human beings. They are YOUR in-between as you enter a new chapter of your life. Life is firsts, lasts, and in-betweens – go forth, you parenting gurus, and seek your next adventure!! You survived parenting!!

That’s all for tonight. Peace out!!