Launching The Boy

Well it is a bittersweet day in my world.

And this is another fairly mushy post.

If you can't handle mushy today, just

go look at a Jimmy Fallon video or something.

I'll try to be more amusing next time.

See that giant guy in the picture below? 

That is my baby, Sam

I know.

 He doesn't look much like a baby any more.

He is sixteen and off to his first job as

 a merit badge counselor at scout camp.

This is in the car on the way to Many Point Scout Camp.

He looks excited and nervous.

And he was.

Here he is in the doorway of his home

 for the next couple of months. 
What a a handsome dude!

This is a place without wi-fi or phone coverage.

Communication will be scarce.

I love that happy face and will miss it 
and his general silliness.
Here he is with his roommate, Sam.

I love that they are both Sam.

I'm not sure what he is doing here, but he looked 

so happy that I shared it anyway.
It was ridiculous how quickly he sent us on our way
 so he could get started on his adventure.
I think we might have been out of the car for two minutes.
Maybe?

It was a cool, misty, sometimes-rainy day.

And it was so beautiful.

I admit. I might have cried a little when we left.
Although it could have been the rain.

I wish I could have better captured the color and mist and 

 loveliness that we drove through. My camera batteries were dead and I could quick snap one picture at a time before it shut off.

 There was no time for fine tuning.

Grrr.

Seriously.

The green.

And the clouds were fabulous.

Anyhoo.

I called this a bittersweet time. And it truly is.

This is the first summer in twenty seven years that I won't have 

kids to play with in the summer. If you have ever met me 

(and you all have since only family reads this) 

you know that being a mom and spending time with my kids is everything to me. 
It's my gig.

I keep thinking about all the days at the park and beach. 
All the picnics and make-believe and music. 

All the noise and joyful hubbub. 

All the gardening and just playing and laughing.

And it was awesome!

But I am also thinking about spending time, dating really, this man I am married to. The idea of Ross and I kayaking and swimming and hiking and eating what-we-want-when-we-want-if-we-want, and just hanging out together certainly has its allure.

 It is almost like we get to be young adults again.

If only we got our young adult bodies back too! 

I am excited to get to know him (and me) better again. 

What to do? What to do?

Pretty much anything!

Anyway.

Life is a funny funny thing. 

It is so often happy and sad at the same time.

Is that what they mean by "when a door closes a window opens"?

It is such a painful squeeze of my heart to have to

 let Sam try out his wings.

And a bit scary .

But my stomach gives a jump of excitement

 to think about it, too.
For both of us.

I hope you are all happy today

 and feel the love I have for you that is 

way too big 
to in any way put on a page.

YOU ARE THE BEST

- Kimberly

(And another poem for your literary growth. Haha)

Riches

They say that times were tough then
That money was very tight
But I remember my childhood
And I know that can't be right

Mom would cook our dinner
Dad came home at five
We were all sitting at the table
Waiting for him to arrive

We wouldn't eat from a microwave
Or a restaurant down the street
We all ate Mom's home cooking
And boy that can't be beat

We didn't eat in front of the TV
Or with a phone in our hand
We weren't plugged into a stereo
bopping to the latest band

We would all sit at the table
Everyone in their place
There were never any surprises
We recognized every face

Brothers to the left of me
Sisters to the right
That's the way we ate dinner
Every single night

We laughed we joked we talked we ate
We were a family don't you see
Though some may have been raised poor
You can see it wasn't me

We ate collards we ate biscuits
We ate fatback and blackeyed peas
We said yes sir we said no sir
We said thank you ma'am and please

So when you talk of family life
Or how it used to be
Though many had more money
None were as rich as me
-Jeanne D. Rhein

Family

Best gift I was ever given.

Ever.

Ugh! Just missing all my favorite people today, 

and wishing you were here.

I'm thinking about you and loving you 

wherever you are.

Mom