family

The usual blog entry has been suspended this week to allow for travel to two important family events:  a high school graduation in CT and a high school graduation in ME.  My nephew and niece will both graduate and continue their march into adulthood.

It seems like yesterday that my sister called me at 3 AM on a dark November morning to tell me that her daughter had been born.  Immediately, my daughter, my other niece and I jumped in the car and drove to Maine to greet this tiny package of new life, wrapped in a pink blanket with a shock of dark hair sticking out of the top.  Uh, that was 18 years ago.  And it seemed like it was just last week when we sat around the fire pit at my brother’s house and watched my three nephews tumbling in the grass like puppies and, a little bit later,  looked on as they learned, one by one, how to drive the old purple pick up truck on the rocky back acerage, dodging the saplings on the Christmas Tree farm.

Time, like an ever rolling stream...

but, this time, it does not bear all of our dreams away, but makes room for new ones:  college, new cities to live in , new roommates, and new adventures.

My niece and nephew are each receiving a compass from me as a graduation gift.  I want them to know that no matter where they are, they know that there are people not too far away, who love them to the end and that it is only a matter of negotiating a few turns and hills to find their way home to a soft bed, a warm meal and a dose of encouragement.

Spend some time this week telling someone whom you love how you feel about them.