Memories of Summer 2016 (My Top 3 Favorites)

The house is empty.  

The kids have gone back to their lives elsewhere.  

I feel the emptiness once more, repeating the pattern of so many years gone by

when the kids went off on the bus and I returned to a strangely quiet house.

The difference is - now they will not be back at the end of the day 

full of excitement and stories.

So I return to what has become my "norm" for most of the year. 

Don't get me wrong.  I love this time in my life.

It just takes a little while to get used to it again.

I had an absolutely wonderful summer with so many fun times!  

I'd like to  show you my top three best memories of the summer,

in no particular order.

1.  My niece, Mikey, and her husband, Lance visited us from Kansas.

It was especially nice that they were here to help celebrate Kerry's birthday!

2.  Our annual family vacation in Lake George.

Time to recharge.  

Time to reflect.  

Time to stop and see the beauty all around us.

Time to laugh and play and be "kids" again.

Time for siblings to reconnect.

And time to bond as a family.

3.  A spontaneous trip to NYC with Annie

The highlight of our 4 days in SoHo for Annie was discovering this adorable Corgi pup on the steps of the store Canvas Home.  Her name is Canvas.

Annie goes crazy over Corgis, and little Canvas crawled right into her lap 

and stole her heart.

We ate our breakfast each morning at Greecologies, which offers grass-fed freshly made Greek yogurt and healthy toppings.

Our hotel, the Nolitan Hotel, was perfect for us.  The rooms were modern and minimalist, and the rooftop patio was great for watching sunrises, sunsets, and rainbows!

The hotel was only a few blocks from Little Italy, where we consumed a fair amount of Italian food and gelato!

Adam and Annie went to see Phantom of the Opera one afternoon while I spent many hours at Purl Soho,  a yarn and fabric store not far from the hotel.  I gathered materials for many sewing and knitting projects for the fall!

We shopped for things we needed, such as a Senior recital dress for Annie at Bloomingdales.  We also spent an unexpected amount of time in a kitchen/bath store named Pirch with many amazing things.  Annie found an oven/stove unit for her future kitchen!

And yes,  we returned to visit Canvas a few more times too!

The weather was extremely hot and humid while we were there, and the subway platforms felt like a sauna, but we had lots of fun together.  We also visited Adam in his new apartment and spent time getting to know his new roommate, Shreyas! 

It couldn't have been a nicer trip! 

I Feel Their Pain

As a mother of 3 adult children,  I remember well the years when they were little.  No day was uneventful.  Emotions and moods could change quickly and often back then - often determined by how tired they were.   As they grew into adulthood, I was just as aware of their changes in mood, however the reasons  became less and less apparent to me.  Sometimes they were willing to share, and sometimes, as is natural, they kept those reasons to themselves.  Their emotions inevitably become more complex and wide-ranging too.

As a mother, I have felt every scrape of the knee, disappointment, illness, and heartache my children have endured.  If one of them is sad, hurt, or unhappy, then, at some level, so am I.  This continues now as they have grown into young adults, and I expect it will continue forever to some extent.  We are inextricably bound one to the other.

Even when my kids are not living at home with me,  I am constantly able to see them in pictures on social media or in the many text messages that get sent in my family.

Seeing their happy smiles in the photos reassures me

of their happiness and well-being.

But when I see these photos,  I don't just take them at face value.

I often try to see beneath the surface to how they are really doing.

Since they only reveal what they want us to see,  and tell

us selectively what is going on in their lives,

it often becomes like a puzzle.  

We listen. We observe. 

But then we feel.

It's almost as if the umbilical cord, far from being

severed at birth, continues the flow of emotions 

from mother to child and back again.

We know something is up before we know what it is.

Mother's intuition.

When we finally discover the reason for our

feelings (sometimes we never do),

it all makes sense and we can release that

nagging unexplained worry.

Not too far from childhood, my adult children have 

and continue to go through

difficult times, unsure of themselves and their futures.

Just as when they were little and scraped their knees,

I continue to feel their pain.

But I don't always know the right answers 

or possess the tools to make them feel better.

Another Birthday for Kerry!

This beautiful girl is my daughter, Kerry.

She turned 24 years old today.

I love this girl more than words can express.

One of the qualities I am most proud of in my children

is that they are really GOOD people.

Kerry is a GOOD person.

She's a good daughter, sister, co-worker, cousin, roommate,

 niece, mother (to Fletcher), nurse...

Anyone in Kerry's life probably knows this already.

Generous, loyal, caring, steadfast, kind, considerate.

Smart, capable, unassuming.

Determined, competitive, tenacious.

Joyful, funny, entertaining.

Strong, sensitive, loving.

Happy Birthday, Kerry!

Love, Mom