Love, Darcy | There is going to come a time

I am the “keeper of the stuff” in our household. I think most moms are. For some reason, everyone assumes that I know where their stuff is. And the sad part is, I usually do. I’ve got files with everyone’s social security cards, their birth certificates, their report cards and diplomas, and more files with their first drawings, their prized school reports and some of the cutest handmade greeting cards you’ve ever seen. Recently, I was up retrieving some of this stuff for one of our children who, by the way, no longer even resides at our house but still keeps some of his stuff there, when I came across a book that used to be one of his favorite childhood reads. I sat down on the edge of what used to be his bed and read through the book myself. And as I did, I tried to remember the last time he and I had sat together side by side and enjoyed that book together. I knew where we would have sat but I could not remember when because on that particular day, I didn’t realize that would be the last time. For some reason, when the opportunity came again, he had gotten too old for that book and eventually too big to sit beside me as I read to him. There is going to come a time, and for many of us it has come and gone, when we all will do something for the last time with our children. A last time on our lap, A last hand picked bunch of flowers from the neighbor’s yard, A last hand drawn picture for the refrigerator, A last “at bat”, A last camping trip, A last “daddy when I grow up I want to marry someone just like you”, A last chance to cheer from the sidelines, One last full body hug, One last day before they say goodbye as they go off to college or to serve their country and on to make their own home. Those are sacred moments and they sneak up on us and are over before we realize the significance and finality of them. I know in the craziness of raising kids, it might be hard to value the seemingly mundane daily actions with your kids. But take it from a Mom who would give anything to relive some of those moments, you might want to sit back and savor those experiences. Because when it comes to those special times with someone you love, you never know when that time will be the last. Here’s to celebrating the firsts and savoring the lasts. Love, Darcy