Holding Hands

I met my very first best friend when I was three years old. We went to the same nursery school together, and through that, our mothers became lifelong best friends. I don't remember the first time we ever held hands, but I do remember much of the childhood that we spent together. We moved down the road from their family when I was in second grade.

By this time, we both had two younger sisters. They were also best friends, and we relished torturing them. I remember bike rides on dirt roads, digging for arrowheads in the field, exploring through the woods, scaring our younger sisters with tales of dead Indians, and playing their Atari 5200. (We only had the 2700).

As we grew older, we retained our friendship. We always knew we were like brother and sister, and a romantic relationship with each other never crossed our minds. I recall a time in high school, when an ex-boyfriend was talking bad about me. My old buddy set him straight. He was the big brother I never had. He was my first best friend; the first boy to ever hold my hand.

My little niece, Grace, held hands with her first boy at the ripe old age of not quite 5 months. She was at her grandfather's wedding, and this boy just reached out and took hold of her delicate little hand. He did it again at a birthday party exactly a week later. He is her cousin, who was born exactly one week before she was.

My hope is that these two cousins share a lifelong close relationship. I hope they ride bikes down dirt roads together; I hope they explore the countryside together; I hope they share the amazement of watching tadpoles turn to frogs; I hope they share a closeness that only exists when you don't remember life without that other person being a part of it.

In twenty-five or thirty years or so, when she decides to marry, I hope to be there. I look forward to watching her share her first dance with her husband, her second dance with her daddy, and I hope she will choose to add a third dance. And I hope that third dance will be with her first best friend, the one with whom she shared all her secrets, this closest of cousins, the first boy to ever hold her hand.

Alrighty...here's my intro!

Why did I decide to start a blog? Well...I'm a mother of three boys, and they're always doing crazy stuff...as boys do. I have a seven year old, a six year old, and (drum roll) an almost 6 month old. (More about that later.)They make me laugh, they make me cry, they bring out the best in me, they bring out the worst in me; they are the loves of my life.

I want to remember this chaotic time in my life when I reach my mid fifties...and they're all gone. I figured it up, and I'll be retiring from teaching about the same time that the baby is midway through college. So, I'll be lonely, and since I love to read, I figured I would start writing this now...and provide myself with my future reading material! And since my grandmother suffered from Alzheimers, and my daddy is getting mighty forgetful here lately, I figured I'd better write it down or it would be lost forever. And some of this does not need to be lost...as you will soon see!

I was in Wal-Mart last week, and unfortunately, we were being the stereotypical Wal-Mart family. I'm embarrassed to even describe it. Just imagine me trying not to lose it as we're waiting in the checkout line...Braxton is trying to run over Nathan with the buggy, and Welles is starting to get fussy. I'm obviously...frazzled. A sweet looking grandma type was behind me in line, and said to me wistfully but with laughter in her voice, "You're gonna miss this one day."

I thought about her comment the entire way home...and am still thinking about it now-a week later. And I know she's right. So thank you, Mrs. Wal-Mart lady, for giving me perspective. The next 18-20 years of my life will be one great big adventure...there will be good times, and I'm sure there will be bad...but this is my life, and these are my kids, and I'm gonna miss them dearly when the time comes for them to leave my nest. So, I've decided to enjoy it all, the good and the bad...so hold on tight and let's ride! Because I'm gonna miss this one day.