25-Year Love Letter

This summer, Fred and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We visited the beach where we got married, stayed at The Homestead where we stayed on our wedding night, and spent some time reminiscing about our time together. Our literal and figurative stroll down memory lane highlighted how much has changed in 25 years.

I started reflecting on our quarter century together when I came to the realization that our oldest son was turning the same age as Fred was when we met. For some reason my beau-to-be seemed older than what I want to believe my son is now. Then I realized…he could meet his future wife any time! This, of course, led to a list of things I want our boys to remember when "seeking" and marrying a spouse. 

• Put your relationship with God first. Human relationships are not forever. Humans are faulty. Spouses leave. Death occurs. God will be there through all your trials and successes. Spend time working on this relationship.
• Know yourself before choosing a partner...what you like/dislike, what is important to you in relationships, where you envision your future, how important your parents are to you 😉, etc. Don't define yourself by the person you choose (see first bullet).
• Choose a partner wisely. While it may be hard to see beyond the initial infatuation
  
  and passion, look for a friend who is going to stick it out for the long haul. Someone who will stretch your comfort zone, who shares your values, and encourages you to grow. Look for traits like patience, forgiveness, and unselfishness. You’ll notice these the more time you spend with someone.
• Make your relationship with your spouse a priority, every day and especially during the tough times. You may disagree about family, friendships, and finances (maybe even politics). You'll navigate emotions, physical ailments, and spiritually battles. It's during those tough times that you need someone who makes your relationship a priority (see third bullet). Also, remember trials are temporary even if it doesn’t feel that way when you’re going through them.
• Communicate regularly. This may be one of the most difficult parts of your relationship, but it's one of the most important. Don't expect your spouse to know what you're thinking or assume you know what she is thinking. Talk about your day, your plans, your future. Celebrate your victories. Share your struggles. And listen to hers.
• Seek wise and mature counsel. I often wonder how my parents and grandparents stayed married so long. Our 25 years isn't even half my grandparents' marital success, yet I am learning what it takes. Don't be afraid to reach out to experienced couples. You're not the first to go through whatever you're going through.

I read a devotion this summer that said marriage is “about sacrifice. It is about caring for the needs of someone else above your own. It is about believing in the impossible when your hope is all but gone. It’s about asking God to give you wisdom and then having the courage to change when he reveals the problem is you.” I’d like to say that in 25 years the problem was never me, but that would be a lie. In fact, I’m thankful for the positive changes I’ve seen in me. Let’s hope Fred does too because I’d like to make it another 25 years.

Who Do You Know?

It may have been on my work reading list for a year, but I finally finished Who You Know by Julia Freeland Fisher. While the book’s focus is on the social capital of students and how schools can help them develop their networks, I could relate many of the concepts to my own life. In addition to the book, volunteering at the local homeless shelter has opened my eyes to the fact that there are people who haven’t been as fortunate in developing their networks and relationships. I feel blessed to know the people I do.

Below are a few concepts from the book that resonated with me. 

My strong ties

• Strong and Weak Ties: There are people who I am close to and share much of my life with…my husband, children, dad, close family and friends. These strong ties are the people who I confide in, who support me when I need it, and just plain put up with me on a regular basis. I also have a network of weak ties…extended family, friends from high school and college, past colleagues and students, and those who have impacted a portion of my life. These ties are not weak in a sense that they are less important, but the role they play in my life is different than the strong ties. (See Value of Networks below.)
• Inherited Networks: I was born into a specific social infrastructure. For much of my youth, who I knew was determined by my parents. My parents valued family so I knew my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even extended family. We also had a network of church friends. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized that not everyone was as fortunate to have these types of inherited networks. As an adult, I added to my network from my college experiences, work experiences, and life interests.
• Value of Networks: The books shares how our networks help provide information, influence, social credibility, and identity for us. If it was not for the weak tie of a past boss who provided information (i.e., shared the opportunity) and influence (i.e., gave a recommendation), who also had social credibility with this person, I would not be doing the work I am doing today. I’ve received consulting work from the recommendation of some of my weak ties. While my strong ties are important for my personal life, it is often my weak ties that have helped me in my career.
• Technology: I resisted Facebook until 2009 when my brother refused to email me pictures of my nephew because that’s where he shared them. My LinkedIn account became active when I decided to look for a new job seven years ago. I know many people who have met their mate on a dating site. Texting, conference calls, and webinars are part of my daily routine. Technology has allowed me to connect and stay connected much easier than in the past. It has also made my work much more efficient. While I love these tools, I still have a strong desire to spend time with people conversing face-to-face.

Since finishing the book, I’ve reflected on my networks over the years. If not for an insistent business teacher in high school, I would not have started on a path that has led to so many opportunities for me in ways that I did not expect. Had I not worked my way through college, I would not have had the chance to learn so much from the individuals who took me under their wings. While I could make the argument that who I knew did not introduce me to my husband, in a round-about way it did…(If I didn’t have a college professor who found a summer internship for me where I met a good friend who convinced me to look for a local job, I wouldn’t have met my husband at said job.) 🙂

My favorite research from the book was a study done over more than half a century. People from Harvard grads to inner city individuals were interviewed. The study found that people who were most satisfied with their relationships at 50 years old were the healthiest at 80 years old. This may be interesting to me because I am 50 years old and love my relationships…all of them…strong and weak, short- and long-term. Each has helped define who I am, and I’ve learned so much from them. It may also be interesting to me because I hope to live to be at least 80. 😉

As our boys begin their adulthood, I hope that they work on strengthening their strong ties and continue to build their weak ones. Their networks, beyond what they inherited from us, are further along than either my husband or I were at their ages. Being involved in Young Life and the fraternity has introduced them to many people that can help them in their careers and in life. I’m proud of them for seeking out these networks and hope they know that their strongest tie (i.e., mom/me) will always be here when they need it.

The End of My 50 List

The end of 2018 closed out My 50 List. Twelve months of my life over. The 12 that I dedicated to doing things I put off for years. It wasn’t so much of a checklist (I didn’t complete all 50 items on the list) as it was an intentionality list. I intentionally made the effort to make as many of them happen as I could. For my family and friends who have been wondering how it all shook out, here’s a quick summary.

Travel

On boat to Lilac Festival

The list actually started because, for years, I said I wanted to visit or go to certain places like the Lilac Festival on Mackinac Island and hike on Isle Royale. Each trip had special significance because of the people I shared each of them with. I did all but hike Grand Island (Munising, MI). This coming summer, I hope my husband and I will be able to bike around the island.

Books/Movies

In addition to travel, reading and watching movies for pleasure were reasons I created the list. I read every book on the list, along with a couple of extras. I still have many work-related books on a list. Maybe I’ll get to them this year. ;-} In addition to reading, I watched more movies this year than I have since my senior year in high school. I love watching movies and would like to take more time to do so.

Food/Exercise

Cold run in April

I also love to eat, but this year I made a conscious effort to eat better. Overall, I think I was pretty successful, even if I didn’t lose any weight (not on the list – Ha!). I even tried a new food each month, most that I liked. [Pastrami, not a fan.] I enjoy exercising, but dealing with plantar fasciitis (or something going on with my foot/ankle) made it a little more difficult this year. I kept at it the best I could by finding alternative ways to exercise besides running and walking.

Successes

I completed 46 on the list (sort of…see Struggles). I started volunteering at the homeless shelter which I continue to do. Even with my foot issue, I was able to contribute 600 miles to my Run the Year group and completed 50k in running races. I had to do a cold 5k trail run at the beginning of December just to get those 50 in, but I finished!

Struggles

The weekly entries I tried to make for gratitude, positive things about me, and encouragement/inspire were hard to keep up. Sometimes it felt forced because I hadn’t done it by the end of the week or couldn’t remember if I did. I like to think I am grateful, give praise and encouragement, and think positively about myself, but regularly writing it down made me question that. Two of the four items on my list didn’t get completed. These were in relation to my heritage. While I did take an ancestry test, I didn’t learn more about my family history or Finnish and Italian words.

While I am still 50 years old until the end of June, the calendar year I turned 50 is over and with it My 50 List. I am not eager to create a 51 list, but hope to continue to do more of what I enjoy with family and friends. Thank you all for sharing in my list last year (or at least for putting up with me as I went through it).

What do you remember?

On the 30th of this month my mom would have turned 68 years old. While there are many times throughout the year that I think of her, my thoughts wander there more often in September. I wonder what advice she'd share with me about having adult children, how many wrinkles she would have on her face, whether her general health would be good, and who she would still be ministering to. I miss spending time with her, seeing her beautiful smile, holding her soft hands, eating her delicious home-made spaghetti noodles, and being amazed by the multitude of craft projects she had "going" at one time. 

Life gives us memories and reminders of those moments. I have a few pictures of my mom around the house. They remind me of special events or just the wonderful person she was. When I make pasties or spaghetti or use one of her recipe cards, memories of her fill my head. Often these memories are not tied to a physical object she owned or gave to me but rather stored in my mind, waiting for a trigger to bring them back like when I hear a song I think she would enjoy. 

While 11:11 reminds me of my late father-in-law and I think of my late grandpa when Stannard Rock is mentioned, not all reminders are related to those who are no longer with us. I think of my aunt when I see a rainbow, my in-law family when I see/hear fart jokes, and a good friend when I drive past an A&W. 

We gather all these memories through our life experiences, waiting to be found again later in life. Yes, there will also be memories of sadness, disappointment, bad decisions, and hurt. These are often the ones we want to forget. But to forget those painful memories may  cause us to make the same mistakes again or be less compassionate to others. 

At a recent memorial service I was listening to the grandchildren share memories of their grandma. As they reminisced out loud, we laughed and we cried. I left that service hoping that the memories I leave for my family, friends, and others are ones that are more positive than negative. That they still laugh when they think of things I did or said, even as they cry through the pain. For the pain is temporary, but the memories are forever.

Younger Me

The first time I heard the beginning of the song ‘Dear Younger Me’ by Mercy Me, I immediately thought about our boys, especially our youngest son who is a mini-me. People say he looks like me. He and I think alike. And he acts a lot like me. (I just wish he didn’t act the not-so-nice parts of me!) As I listened to these lyrics, I thought about him turning 18 this year, leaving for college, and all the adult decisions he’s going to have to make. What should I tell him? How much do I share? Should I let him make his own mistakes?

“Dear younger me

Where do I start

If I could tell you everything that I have learned so far

Then you could be

One step ahead

Of all the painful memories still running thru my head”

Then the next line caught me off guard. “I wonder how much different things would be” and thought maybe the song isn’t about the boys. It might be about me. The next verse clinched it.

“Do I give some speech about how to get the most out of your life

Or do I go deep

And try to change

The choices that you’ll make cuz they’re choices that made me

Even though I love this crazy life

Sometimes I wish it was a smoother ride”

Yup. It was about me.

When I think of my relationship with myself, there were times that I wasn’t too happy with who I was. There were also times when I was pretty proud of me. In both of these situations, it had little to do with material possessions and more to do with the words I said, the actions I did, and the attitude I had. While I can’t change my past, I can learn (and have) from it. As our boys navigate their adulthood, I hope they also reflect on their choices and learn from each of them.

My Year of 50 Update

#3 Contribute at least 600 miles to my Run 2018 team - I completed 50 miles for January so I’m on track to meeting this goal.

#4 Eat fewer carbohydrates and less sugar and #5 Eat more fruits and veggies - I started the month better than I ended, but this blog reminds me to get me back on track.

#6 Exercise at least five days a week - Maybe not at the level I would have liked, but met the five days a week.

#23 Monthly coffee/drink date with a girlfriend - Spent a night with a fellow quinquagenarian the day after she turned 50.

#25 Post once a week on Instagram/Facebook - Check my accounts.

#28 Read Still Alice - I thought the author was a very good writer. I often felt like I was the main character. Maybe it had to do with her turning 50 and me not remembering things so well.

#30 Reconnect with an old friend - I worked with Dorothy at NMU in the Development Fund office. We attended hockey games and hung out outside of work. She moved to Ohio and we kept in touch for a short time, but then lost touch. We just reconnected on Facebook and hope to meet up again soon. I hope to reconnect with other people this year that I’ve lost touch with.

#32 Send/leave an inspirational note/compliment to someone each week - Done every week. This was harder than I thought. I kept wondering if what I was sending would be received as inspirational or a compliment.

#34 Start a gratitude journal and place an entry every week - Done every week. This was pretty easy. Guess I’m pretty thankful.

#39 Take a yoga or Pilates class - We joined the local YMCA and Fred went to a Pilates class with me. Not crossing this one off the list just yet as I don’t feel one session constitutes a class.

#41 Try a new food every month - I tried butternut squash at a friend’s house and I made spaghetti squash. The rest of the family had regular spaghetti, just like my mom used to do for us. J

#47 Watch at least 10 sunsets - I watched my first sunset in January. It was a frigid cold evening and the red was compacted around where the sun was setting. But the coolest part was this column of red that was beaming straight up from the sun. Wish I could’ve taken a picture but I was driving.

#48 Watch Still Alice and compare to book – I liked the book better.

#49 Write down one positive thing about myself each week - Done every week. This was a little harder than I thought it would be.

#50 Write in my blog every month - Two months down!

It Feels Good to Cry

Today, I cried. I’m not embarrassed though because crying is good for you (just Google benefits of crying). It wasn’t an angry cry or a hopeless cry or a frustrated cry or a sobbing cry or even a grieving cry, although I’ve had many of those over the years. If I had to categorize it, it was a sad cry.

This boy turned 19 today.

Our oldest turned 19 today. Every year, I write each of the boys a letter for their birthday. This isn’t a letter that they open on their birthday, but rather one that I tuck away for the future. The letter is a summary of their past year…milestones, friends, sports, vacations, behaviors, etc. I print it, put it in an envelope, and stick it in their “saving box,” the place where we store keepsakes for them like report cards, writings, art work, and awards. The boys know about the boxes and understand they will receive them when they are “old enough,” which I’m anticipating is when they buy a house and we deliver the boxes with the rest of their childhood “memorabilia.” I don’t scrapbook so these letters are my way of keeping an account of their lives.

It was while I was writing his letter this morning that I cried. As I thought of his first year of college and all that transpired, I was overwhelmed with a mixture of sadness and pride. Sad that he is no longer around all the time yet proud that he is growing into a responsible young adult. He has handled adversity well and has learned some great life lessons this year.

I’m quite the emotional person and have been known to cry easily (to the embarrassment of our kids). I sobbed watching the movie “Up.” (More than once.) Stories of individuals doing something special for others, like caring for the homeless or the TV show Extreme Home Makeover, make me teary. When I see other people cry, I cry. While water ekes out of my eyes in each of these situations, none refresh my soul like a good alone cry. It’s during those times that I reflect, talk to God, and let the tears freely flow. After all, every one of those tears is washing away stress hormones from my body. What’s not good about that?

I know men tend not to cry as often as women, but I hope as our boys become men, they will experience the release that occurs when they allow themselves to cry. Whether they cry alone, with a significant other, or in a room full of people, I hope they find comfort through the tears, just like their mom does.

Good Grief

“Good grief.” While not the first words that came to mind when our 18 year old sent me a text that he was thinking of going to Florida with his girlfriend and her family for Christmas, they do convey my frustration. “What?! You want to do this the first Christmas you’ve been away at college? I expect there will be Christmases without us all together, but so soon? You’re only 18!”

I am such a hypocrite. I say I’m ready for our kids to be adults, that we’ve done a good job raising them, and that I’m looking forward to spending time with my husband without the daily stress of raising kids. But now that one of our charges is actually an adult, I’m questioning if I’m really ready for the changes that lie ahead. This Christmas I realized I’ve been grieving, for years, the fact that the boys are growing up. I just haven’t accepted it.

Our family photo this Christmas

It’s normal to grieve the changes in life as our children grow up. My conflicting feelings of “I’ve done a good job and they are ready” and “You’re not old enough to be moving on to the next stage in life” are caused because my familiar patterns of life are changing. As I reflected over the lifetime of Christmases we’ve had with the boys, I realize that the familiar patterns really lasted only a brief period of time and new patterns took their place.

• When the boys were young, Christmas was fun and exciting, not just for them but for me. They seemed to enjoy getting and decorating the Christmas tree, they would come to wake us up earlier than we were ready to get up, and we had all sorts of options of gifts for them. This lasted just four or five years.
• In the pre-teen years I began to notice less excitement in hunting for the tree and even less desire to decorate it. While the extra hour or so of sleep was a relief, it came with the price of less anticipation of Christmas morning. Their Christmas gift idea list became smaller so they had a better idea of what they would receive. This phase of Christmases was also short.
• The teen years came with sleeping in until 10:00 or 11:00 on Christmas Day, presents we picked out together because they only wanted one expensive gift, and celebrating early so they can be with someone else on Christmas Eve and Day. We’ve been in this pattern of Christmases (minus the last part) for four years.  

Reflecting on Christmases past has helped me to accept the fact that our oldest child has decided to spend the holidays with someone other than us. This is the next phase of our life. It may be years before a new familiar pattern of life exists for us. Soon there will be two in college followed by daughters-in-law and grandchildren, and with them comes more change.

This recent grief I’ve experienced is not the same as when I lost my mom, but it is a process all the same. Grief is good. It’s a normal, natural reaction to any kind of loss. I am ready to accept this new phase of life with renewed insight. I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy for me. I’m sure there will be times I struggle with the changes, but I hope it gets easier as time goes on. And I know I can always find comfort in family and friends who have already been through it.

Learning to be a Mom of an Adult Child

It’s been a month. Thirty-six days to be exact but I’m not really counting. Last month we dropped off our oldest child, Kyle, at Michigan Tech University, a 7-8 hour drive from home. I expected it to be a weepy goodbye as both my husband and I are quite emotional. To my surprise it wasn’t (mostly because our son couldn’t get us out the door soon enough), and that began a new phase of my life...mothering an adult child.

Dropping Kyle off at college 

I’m sure other mothers can relate. For eighteen years, I’ve spent the majority of my life attentive to his needs, his wants, his health, his schoolwork, his behavior, his friends and girlfriends, his activities, etc. Now that he’s gone, it seems I think about him much more than when he lived at home. That’s probably not true, but when I saw him, even if it was just 5-10 minutes at night, I had confirmation that he was okay. Not hearing from him for days or seeing him for months is new territory for me. Learning comes with new things and here is a summary of what I’ve learned so far in this new journey.

What I miss

• I miss the daily contact and updates. Even if it was just a few minutes in the morning and/or evening, I was able to see him and talk with him about his life. I know there is technology that will allow this to continue to occur, but I’m giving him his space to be an adult.
• I miss watching him play sports, interact with his friends and adults, and obsess over whatever project he started.
• I miss his beautiful smile. And I should since we paid for it!
• I miss his curious, creative nature. Not necessarily the messes he made while being curious and creative though.
• I miss his friends coming over to hang out.
• I miss him taking care of the dog every morning! Just being honest.

What I love about parenting an adult child

At a college visit senior year

• I love the freedom I have to spend more time with my husband. While we still have one more child at home, it is one less person and schedule to work around.
• I love that grocery shopping is easier and less frequent. No longer do I need to get milk three times a week, make spaghetti and tacos at least once a week, or replenish snacks as often.
• I love that the house stays clean longer. I’m sure this is due to our younger son taking over the basement vacated by Kyle so the upstairs (the part I see the most) is easier to keep less cluttered.
• I love that there are less cars in the driveway. As all the men in my family can attest to, I am not the best backer upper. Trying to weave between cars in my driveway is a stressful endeavor for me so his leaving has alleviated some of this stress.
• I especially love when Kyle initiates a call or text conversation. It makes my day whenever I hear from him no matter why he is connecting with me or how long we converse.

What I struggle with

• How do I communicate with him without being intrusive? How often should I or can I contact him? What time during the day or night is okay to call? I’m sure I’m overthinking this, but I want him to know I care without bugging him all the time.
• How do I balance giving him advice without telling him what to do? Over the years we’ve taught him to make his own decisions, but we’ve always been there to help him through them. Now he doesn’t always consult us in his decisions.
• How do I ask questions without being interrogative? I’m interested in what he’s doing and I’m sure there are things I don’t want to know. How do I ask the right questions to hear about his life without making it seem like I’m trying to catch him doing something wrong?
• How do I accept the fact that we’ve done a good job raising him and he’s going to be an honest, hardworking, caring, and productive adult? In my heart I know he will be.

Love that smile!

I think back to when I was a young adult and how my mother treated me. She gave me my space, was there when I needed her, and prayed for me constantly. This is the path I am choosing to take on this new journey. I hope I will be as successful at mothering adult children as she was.

Redefining Mom Time

I empathize with Fred every time I think about the Dunkin Donuts “Time to Make the Donuts” commercial from the early 1980s. Every day Fred the Baker got up early and came home after dark to do his job, making donuts. He became more exhausted as the days went on and eventually ran into himself at the door as he was leaving/coming. I’m sure many people relate to this commercial from a work perspective, but I empathize with Fred from the mom perspective.

Photo credit: quotesgram.com/exhausted-mom-quotes/

Once upon a time I felt like Fred the Baker. Rise early to shower and get ready before waking the kids. Make breakfast and lunches. Be sure they had everything for the school day. Go to work. Pick kids up and make dinner. Drive to some sort of sports practice. Get the boys ready for bed. Grade papers or prepare lessons. On 'no practice' days, I had time to grocery shop, do laundry, clean the house, work on the budget, take care of the unending list of things a mother is responsible to do, or maybe plan a vacation. Then do it again the next day and the next day and the next day… My poor husband. During that time, he may have gotten meals and vacations, but very little one-on-one time with me.

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVED spending time with the boys, and still do, but I rarely had much Mom Time. Sure, I could squeeze in a workout...if I got up earlier or ran instead of eating dinner with the family. I tried, unsuccessfully, to play cards every other week with my friends. When I decided to read a book, I’d stay up way too late, multiple nights in a row, because I couldn’t stop reading (apologies again to my husband). But that was my Mom Time...a little time to spend doing what I wanted to do.

As the boys got older, they started making their lunch, doing their laundry, and eventually driving themselves to practice. Now there are days when I see them for five minutes before I head to bed. I’m starting to miss them. In their teen-aged years, my definition of Mom Time has changed. It is no longer time for me, but time for us.  And I’ll take any chance I can get to spend some time with them.

Birthday Bonus

In the last couple of weeks I’ve been fortunate to have some newfound Mom Time. Our youngest invited me to see the movie Finding Dory. As a bonus, our oldest son and his girlfriend came along. Both boys unexpectedly had my birthday off from work so we spent the afternoon together as a family, and I didn’t even have to use a Forced Family Fun Day to make it happen. Our oldest spent the Fourth of July sailing with us, and I actually enjoyed driving one and a half hours to the orthodontist just so I could spend alone time with our youngest son.

My relationships with the boys have definitely changed over time and I’m sure as they enter college, get married, and start families those relationships will continue to evolve. I’m not sure that my Mom Time definition will change again, but I do know that my time with each of the boys will become less as they continue their journey through life. For now, I’m going to savor all the Mom Time I can get.

Hello

Ever since I first heard Adele’s Hello song, I thought of a ‘thousand’ things that could be written in a parody from “your mother’s side.” There are a couple of mother parody videos on the Internet, but I wanted one that my boys could relate to during their teenage years so I wrote my own. This may ruin the popular song for them, but I’m sure they think I ruin plenty of things for them at this time in their lives. Also, I don’t sing (at least not out loud), so the following are just the lyrics.

Hello, it’s me
I was remembering all of the years between you and me
When you were younger and needed me
They say you shouldn’t rush it and now I know just what they mean

 

Hello, can you hear me
I’m at home and dreaming ‘bout the kid you used to be
But now you’re older and don’t need me
You’re independent hanging with your friends instead of family

 

There is so much history between us
A million memories

 

Hello from your mother’s side
I must’ve called a thousand times
To tell you I’m tired of your messy room
Why can’t you pick your clothes up from the floor

 

Hello from the outside
Seems like I’m always your ride
To take you to practice and then bring you home
Did you do your homework or does it need to be done tonight

 

Hello where are you
You’ve been busy growing up and that’s tough for me and dad
I hope that you’re safe
Did you go to that party where nothing good would happen

 

It’s no secret that the both of us
Have made our own mistakes

 

So hello from your mother’s side
I must have cried a thousand times
As I told you I’m sorry for yelling at you
But when I ask you it never seems to get done

 

Hello from my mother’s side
Now I see how she tried
To get me ready for raising your right
I still look for her guidance even though she’s not here anymore

 

Hello from your mother’s side
I must’ve told you a thousand times
Forever I’ll love you whatever you do
Even when you grow up and move from our home

 

Hello from the outside
You will not believe my pride
When you get married and have kids of your own
But don’t hurry it clearly doesn’t have to be soon at all

(I can see all kinds of places where the boys will be giving me grief, but I’m posting this anyway.)

Writing this parody was fun. We were five hours into a nine hour car ride to my sister-in-law’s house for Christmas. Our youngest son and I were in the back seat listening and “rewinding” (Can you rewind digital?) Adele’s Hello song on his phone while we tried to come up with words that made sense and fit into the music. Every time I wrote ‘hello,’ I would spell it hellow. Every. Time. And every time I would laugh at myself. That’s something my mom would have done. As I laughed at myself, I could hear her laugh. This parody may not make the top 10 (or even top 10,000), but the joy it brought me in reminiscing about my mom and making a new memory with E tops my list.