Today is the first day of the new school year. Yesterday, our kids did their best to enjoy every last second of summer vacation. The girls slept in and Evan was up early, typical this summer. They all spent hour after hour outside yesterday. I had a request to take them to Cherry Berry for frozen yogurt since it was the last day of summer. Dani must think like me, because I already was planning to take them there. Later, Evan convinced Eric to take them to Pizza Ranch for supper, since it was the last day of summer. Then it was back home to squeeze in a few more hours of play time with the neighbor kids. And for perhaps the first time all summer, I didn't hear any arguing between the kids. They were soaking up every minute, trying to make just a few more summer memories. Maybe if they stayed outside, all of us parents would forget to call them in and school would be postponed.
Then 8 o'clock hit, and all the parents in the neighborhood called their kids in. Surprisingly, our kids didn't seem too sad. They were ready to go back to seeing their friends at school each day. They were ready for life to go on, as they knew it would. They also knew they had held onto summer for as long as possible and would long remember all the fun they had. I actually felt like I was taking it harder than they were. The thought of summer vacation being over and getting kids up early each morning and making them do homework every night was not a pleasant one.
As I watched them play outside yesterday, it struck me that when each Daddy and Mother were dying, I was holding on to them just like a kid holding onto the last day of summer vacation. With Daddy, we knew he likely had only a few months to live. We visited often, trying to soak up the memories of him. With Mother, we only had 9 days of knowing she was dying. Short of a miracle, I wanted nothing more than to spend every moment with her. I wanted to memorize her hands, her face, everything about her. I hated to leave her room for more than a few minutes, for fear of her leaving this earth while I was gone. I wanted to hold onto her until the last possible minute. Thankfully I was there when God called her into his loving arms. Losing Mother was the hardest thing I have ever been through. And yet there was peace in that moment when she died. I knew where she was going. I knew she was reunited with Daddy, and so many others who had gone before her. I knew she was with Jesus now and would never have pain or sadness again. I knew life would go on for our family as well. There would be plenty days of grieving. But we had held onto her as long as we could. And I have memories that will last a lifetime.
Perhaps we should all live each day just like a kid on the last day of summer vacation.
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