Love, Darcy: Spoiling Rights

If I thought anyone would listen to me, I would stomp my foot and insist that everyone in my family freeze where they are and stay there a while. For a person who finds comfort in familiarity and routine, life is moving way too fast for me. In just a few short weeks, our youngest, Colt, is going off to Junior High school. This means no more visits to the elementary school of which we have been a part for the last 16 years. Today, our sweet little blonde, Shiloh, is taking the test for her learner’s permit. It wasn’t that long ago that she was pulling her red tricycle into the garage. Now, it will be a green van or SUV that she maneuvers through the garage door. And then there is that young man that lives upstairs and leads such a full life, that he only occasionally shows up around the dinner table. Although he resembles our second born, Cody, he is now a registered voter and enrolled with the selective service. Just for the record, I am not so inflexible that I don’t welcome progress and even enjoy watching God develop our children into young men and women of God. After all, I have expected all of these changes and actually, in a way, looked forward to them. There is one change that I wasn’t anticipating. I was caught completely off guard with the timing of this, and it took me a few days to digest it. However, now that we have accepted this new phase of life, we can hardly wait. We are going to be grandparents sometime this month! Yes, our daughter, Karis, and son-in-law, Mike, who have only been married a year and a half, will become parents in August. As they begin the God-ordained job of parenting, my advice to them, as a seasoned veteran, is get used to change, smile and hang on for the most exhilarating ride of their lives. In the meantime, I am gearing up for what has been described to me by every grandparent I have ever talked with as the “best experience in the world.” Bring it on! I’ve been in training for almost 22 years. Here’s to spoiling rights and the circle of life, Love, Darcy (Written in August 2002)