Late into the dark evening hours the night of the wedding, I sat on the beach by a crackling campfire with other guests who were singing and playing instruments, and I looked up in peaceful awe at the myriad of stars that twinkled quietly in the sky above us. I had one of those powerful moments of feeling then, a realization that I had looked up at these exact same stars in this exact same space so many years ago, and that in that time since, so much had changed, and yet in some ways, nothing much had changed at all. We are all older now, and wear on us the marks of our successes and failures in our pursuits, in our relationships, in parenthood, in life, but somehow under those stars I felt that in spirit, I was still that same fourteen year old girl who years ago was right there, finding her own way in a world full of both heartache and joyful wonder. And it was warm and comforting to be surrounded again by so many of the loving hearts and faces who have played such an important role in helping me become who I am today.
The wedding was an absolutely perfect end to the summer, and we enjoyed ourselves so much that shifting gears into back-to-school mode just two days later seemed sudden and honestly, sad. There were anxious tears, and grumblings, and butterflies in stomachs on Sunday and Monday, but the boys got off to school smoothly yesterday and now we're all (well, some of us still more than others) excited to embrace the adventures of a new season. I hope that this year will take each of the boys on the path they want to go, so that when they grow up and find themselves one night looking up at a breathtakingly beautiful sky full of stars, they too will feel a deep sense of peace and contentment.
No comments:
Post a Comment