For the first 50 years of my life, my perfectionist self mistakenly believed it was all about knowing more, getting it right, planning, attempting to prevent bad things from happening, and keeping all of my chicks in a row. It took me this long to discover that the JOURNEY is all that matters. This quote from Gilda Radner sums it all up:

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.
"


Thursday, August 29, 2013

24 Hours

Day, n. A period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent.
                           Ambrose Bierce

On any normal day, we don't always make the most of our time.  


But what if it wasn't a "normal" day.  What if it was a day that would only happen once in your lifetime?  

What if you were leaving home for the first time in your life to live 5 hours away in another state to go to college? 

What would you do with your time?  

Here is what Annie did last Saturday before she left for college on Sunday.


She didn't waste much time sleeping.  At 4:30 AM, she woke up and met two of her close friends, Zach and Dave, for a hike up Soapstone Mountain to watch the sunrise. They even brought a camp stove and made breakfast!


She did a few loads of laundry so she could finish up her packing.
The gathering spot was in the piano room.


 She hadn't slept in her bedroom for a while.  She was using her bed to collect the clothes she planned to pack.


While her clothes were being washed, she decided to fix her favorite spider earring that had lost the jewel.



Gold or blue?


Then I followed her to her friend's house so I could take pictures of her saying good-bye to Jess.




Jess carried on a long tradition between friends by giving Annie a picture she had drawn of a dinosaur in front of the Eastman School of Music!

I couldn't help but take a picture of Jess's cat Archie!



After a final drive through the corn fields and cow pastures of town...



Annie went to the high school track for a final run.


How appropriate that the back of her shirt reads:
"BE COURAGEOUS"


Then Annie stayed home and ate dinner with us.  We went to the grocery store for snacks to bring to college,
finished packing,

and she redid her manicure at 2:00 AM before going to sleep.

On Sunday morning we went to church
for her final time as the official church pianist.


 After the service, there were many hugs and well-wishes ...



 Then we went home to pack up the car


AND WE LEFT TOWN.

THAT was how she spent her last 24 hours at home!





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