Thanksgiving Photo Op

It's been a good weekend.  Busy and fun and exhausting and fun, but still, I would not really change a jot of the weekend.  The picture above was Thanksgiving morning.Fiona opted to be in the Big City this year and did well with her visit.  The rest of our kids were here though and this is the picture I snapped of them Thanksgiving morning before everyone else arrived.  I did not think much about the pictures on the wall behind them.  At that time, I had only a few seconds to snap a picture and this was the only wall available  In a minor miracle, this is the first picture I tried to take of them and it was so cute right out of the gate.  Lissa is holding her dog Luna, if anyone is wondering what the shaggy lump is in her arms. 

It was as I was looking at the picture later in the evening, when things were quieter, I got to noticing the wall.  It is the wall that usually is inhabited by our love seat.  At Thanksgiving we have to move the furniture out of the living room so that is why that space was open.  The pictures behind the kids are of years gone by when they were very young.  Fiona's are hardest to see, they are the collage of four at the top.  In the center is a pastel drawing an artist friend did of Chet and Rob years ago.  I think Rob was about 7 when that was done, Chet would have been almost 18.  There is a picture of KC as a baby and of Lissa as a baby. 

And below them stand my beautiful, but so grown, children.  Lissa and KC have years with us still--but not LOTS of years.  And since the first 10 or 13 went by in a blink the years from 10 to 18 and 13 to 18 will be like a nano second.  Rob is 21 now and alternately going to the edge of the nest and stepping back.  This time next year I will be surprised if he is still living at home.

KC is all ready looking forward to his spring birthday, which will make him old enough to get a part time job.  He is eager for increasing independance and has a road map well thought out on how to achieve it.

Lissa is always looking for new experiences and has all ready told me that she won't be here once she is 18.  I believe it.  Her drive and intensity when she finds things to be part of and experience is amazing to behold. 

My picture is a reminder of a wonderful family holiday spent together. It is also a reminder.  Reminder to hug my kids closely, listen intently, smile more and make memories together.  Those memories will be my comfort and will be their trampoline--helping them launch exuberantly and courageously into their futures.