Lasts & Firsts

Sometimes a post in my Facebook feed stops me in my tracks. Last week, it was a picture of my nephew’s little boy with this caption from his Mommy,

     “First Day of Kindergarten. He’s ready. I’m not.”

Funny thing is, when I was sending my little boys off to Kindergarten I don’t think I took the time to process all the feelings back then. But, today?

Today, I cried as I re-typed the sentence my nephew’s wife wrote. (Now pardon me a moment while I get a kleenex and pull myself together…)

Life is full of firsts, isn’t it?

It’s also full of lasts.

It’s the “lasts” that rip my heart out sometimes.

Let me illustrate.

The other day we spent our last day with our middle son here with us in this pretty little in-between house of ours.

Lasts & Firsts

We hugged him good-bye with smiles and well wishes and prayers as he headed off on a venture that he’s dreamed of for many, many years.

Did I mention it’s a long, long way away?  Like: overseas, far away?

I’m so happy for him.

And…this momma heart misses him, too.  (Darn it! Now I need another kleenex!)

Lasts & Firsts~ Changing seasons in life is a roller coaster sometimes...

We also stopped our family comedian (aka, our youngest boy) for a quick picture to commemorate his last first day of school. Of course he wanted to include in it his favorite before school breakfast meal (a tortilla with peanut butter and honey…).

Life is full of lasts and firsts, isn’t it? I feel it most keenly in the momentous milestones of my kids.

But, it also appears in more subtle ways on a regular basis.

Take the Seasons, for instance. The last day of Summer marks the first day of Fall.

One thing needs to end before the birth of a new thing.

I used to think I was pretty good with rolling with the rythymn of lasts and firsts in life. But this past year has brought about a few more lasts & firsts than an average year…

My heart is a little raw and somedays I don’t “roll with it” as well.

A recent personality test I took confirmed what I suspected about myself.

I’m a “settler”.

As in, I like to be settled.

As in, I like to set my shovel in the dirt somewhere and dig deep.

Lasts & Firsts~ Changing seasons in life is a roller coaster sometimes...

Right now, the packing boxes are filling up and I’m preparing my heart for the last day in this house I fell in love with the day I walked in…

And setting my mind on the fact that in only 15 days…

I’ll open the door to the FIRST day in our very FIRST home (of our own)!

I’m ready to dig in deep!!;)

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One Comment

  1. Oh Rita what a wonderful post! I love this. Every now and then I get these Memories on facebook of posts of years ago (well, most when my kids were babies). About 5 to 8 years ago of video clips or photo’s that I uploaded then to facebook. I almost want to cry every time I see those and remember those days but it flew by in an instant. I heard this line the other day: “The days are long but the years are short.” When my kids were babies it felt some days that the days were extremely long (I guess when I was tired of getting up at night or something?) Thank you for reminding me about firsts and lasts and that we should treasure all those moments!

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