What happened in August?

 Here it is the middle of September and I am wondering what happened to August!  For sure, the month was HOT and DRY here in Chicago.  That is nothing new.  What was new for our family was on both ends of the grandkids.... Lia went away to college and Jimmy started preschool.  How did that happen?  It really seems impossible to think that I currently have grandkids in Preschool 3's, Second Grade, Fifth Grade, Eighth Grade, Tenth Grade and College Freshmen!  That is quite a spread for sure.  Our last "family" event before Lia left for school was the annual Grayslake Days parade that the girls have marched in for Dance Connection for years..  This year that day marked the first time Lia didn't dance - just Ellie and Anna!  And it was my time to say goodbye to Lia and get that last hug!

The girls did great and it was so fun to sit beside Lia during the parade! 

Here are a couple of "action" shots from the girls dancing!

After the parade they always get treated to Ice Cream from the Freeze!  

And then, just like that, Lia was away at school!  It is about five hours away, which is not so bad.  But for this grandma, it feels like a very long way.  The really silly thing is that I have actually seen Lia on Facetime several times and she has already been home for a visit! More about that in the next blog!

And now onto all the others!

The first day of school always reminds me of my birthday.  Because I was born on Labor Day, the first day of school always happened in my birthday week.  During my life, we never went to school before Labor Day.  I never had a 'kid" birthday party because of this and didn't really know that was a common thing!  I have some mixed memories about the first day of school.  I very much remember going to Kindergarten and NOT wanting to stay.  But after a couple of rough days, I came to really like school.  After we moved just before I started fist grade, I wasn't so sure about school.  Now I was riding a bus to school and it was very different than my first experience at school.  Another memorable first day was my eighth grade year.  Again, just after a move.  I walked into a totally different culture having moved to the Chicago suburbs from Minnesota.  It was 1967 and these 13 year olds I found at my new school were "teenagers" in a way that I was NOT!  But somehow I managed to survive and get through school.  Things are so different for my grandkids.  Gwen's kids have been homeschooled since Lia was in fourth grade and Ellie was in first grade.  Doug' kids - right now just Grace - ride a bus to a nearby school.  She could actually walk to school if the roads/subdivisions were completed.  There is a still a farm field that separates their subdivision from the school.  As the birds fly, its a short distance!  This year Jimmy started at the same preschool that Grace attended for two years.  It is a nature based, lots of outdoor time program that is actually held at Blackberry Farms.  This small amusement sort of park has farm animals (including some horses), a merry go round, a train and does hay rides.  Needless to say, it is a great fit for Jimmy who lives to be outside, running around!  Gwen's kids do not suffer from lack of social contact.  They have many different activities (sports, dance, scouts) and so many church friends.  Everyone is constantly going and doing!  

Turning 70 and having Lia leave for college made this August more reflective than I expected.  But August was a month of thankfulness and also a time of looking ahead for me.  Recently someone told me to make the most out of the next decade.  Isn't that a wonderful thought?  So I have decided to make a list of all the ways that I can do just that.  Make these next ten years count.  Do the things that I have been putting off.  Savor each day, week, month and year.  So that when 80 rolls around (and I am very aware that it will come much faster than I could imagine), I will have a decade of wonderful accomplishments and memories.  So, here is to welcoming 70 and walking out towards 80!

Jesus, thank you for the ways you knit families together.  Holy Spirit remind us that our time with our children and grandchildren is short.  Help us to make the most out of each day.  Keep us walking forward when we feel stuck.  Give us strength and stamina to go on when we are weary.  Thank you for the curiosity and wonder of preschoolers, the energy and excitement of  elementary kids, the boldness and courage of the middle schoolers and high schoolers, and the determination and strength of the college students.  Keep us safe in your care, wherever we go.  Amen