summer's end

on this first day of this first autumnal month, i am remembering and reminiscing over the events of the summer. it has been a heavy, very heavy summer for me filled with life events in quick succession. as i continue to internalize the changes and holes that are now in place, some good some difficult, i am once again grateful for the constants in my life, the quiet entities that i ever so often try not to, but inevitably so often take for granted: my husband, my children, my friends, my family, my dogs and my garden. this summer i:

- lost my father, he passed away may 30th

- attended a very confusing and difficult memorial service for my father followed by ongoing family contention

- had to say goodbye to my best neighbor friend and her family on their move back to california

- and finally, on my 57th birthday, after 30 years of at home mothering, became the mother of an empty nest as paul and i said goodbye to our beautiful, vivacious, confident, strong and funnest youngest child dropping gabi off and settling her into freshman year at university of utah

luckily, utah is filled with family so this momentous and difficult-for-me weekend was filled to the brim with gabi's grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and a brother and sister. sebastian and his fiancé madison live in provo and nicole, bless her heart, flew out to spend this time with us all. i love my family. it was a busy few days moving gabi into the dorms, creating her new and comfortable nest, meeting her roommates, morgan and sophia, and their families (we liked them all so much!) and shopping and organizing all we could for a smooth start to the school year. gabi was amazing, she is absolutely ready to go, excited and anxious to get this party started! with communications as her major and broadcast journalism her focus, she auditioned on the friday as she also wants to study dance as a minor and was quickly accepted into the uofu dance program. all is well. to end this full weekend, auntie tessa invited all the family to her house and paul shopped and cooked for everyone (25 in all, i believe). finally, the time came to say goodbye to my baby with all the love, support and confidence i have in her as well as whispers of mothering admonitions for her safety and making good choices. i love you gabi.

ok paul, let's do this..........whoop, whoop!!