And So It Goes . . .

The lazy days of summer are coming to an end. I always found the end of the summer very sad. The summers for me were a time of freedom, of discovery, of days on the beach slathered with baby oil, of riding my bike to friends' houses, of sleeping late, of lying on the grass in the backyard looking up at the maple trees swaying in the summer breezes, of reading book after book of my choice. Then came the end of the summer.

There was always a feeling that I had to rush to get ready for school. There was shopping for clothing as I was constantly outgrowing my things. I always had to clean out my closet and drawers to make room for the new stuff. While I was doing that, I ended up cleaning up my entire room including the dust in the corners of the windowsills and way underneath the beds.

Well, fast forward a few decades and nothing much has changed. The only difference is that now I am the mom and my children are the ones flopping around the house in PJs until 4 p.m. in the afternoon, watching TV or playing guitar or reading whatever they want. They did the room cleaning. We did the clothes shopping. They are ready for school. And they have that wistful sadness that comes with the ending of a great summer.

And so it goes . . . another summer drawing to an end. But we have the school year to look forward to. New classes, new friends, new adventures. A bit of balance to the sadness, there is the new beginning to look forward to.