One day it's summer and the next, autumn is in the air.  It will continue like this for a good month yet, at least the summer lovers sure hope so!

I savor each and every season and their changing nature.  It's fascinating how it all unfolds; how they run together and separate, until the one bids farewell and the next one digs in deep.

It was spring when I last wrote here and for all I know, it will be winter before it happens again.  This seems to be the way of living these past few years.

May brought another gracious gift of our third grandchild, Fraser Leandro.  He has been such a delightful addition to our families.  My Nana days are incredibly rich with three unique and precious children.  They are my weekly bliss.

Summer held lively and memorable moments and the more challenging as well.  My girl and her guy were home in June for a short visit and got their own snuggles with a close-to-new nephew.

Brian moved into his last "stage" of retirement in June and although it may seem as though it's never-ending, the pace of transitioning has been good for both of us.  The golf course has been his "sanctuary", at least in theory:)  I have been grateful for two extra hands within our home and simply enjoying being together.

In July two of my sisters and I had our second annual adventurous retreat for our souls.  We tend to pack alot into our days, always with a good story or two or more to store into our memories.

I took many a morning walk on the trails near our home, enjoying nature's beauty and strengthening my spirit.

At a time of year, when life tends to ramp up, mine is slowing down.  By choice.  Every so often my spirit requires additional tending, and this is one of those times.  

In late September my girl and her guy will come "home" again for a few days, and then hubby and I will make our trek to "The Gift House" for our two weeks of respite.

For now, I will appreciate the interlacing of the seasons, and sit with the seasons in my own soul.

Mothers and Motherhood

"She was far too small 

for her feet to touch the bottom of her grief; 

far too young 

to navigate these treacherous waters."

Faith Hogan

"When a mother dies too young,

something inside her daughter always feels incomplete.

There's a missing piece she continues to look for,

an emptiness she keeps trying to fill."

--Hope Edelman

"...hold out both of your hands.  Place your grief in one.  In the other, accept the capacity to feel gratitude and awe for what you have witnessed and become.

Now bring them together, palm to palm, in front of you.

this is what Francis Weller calls 

'the prayer of life.'"

Hope Edelman

 

"Our children come through us,

not for us,

except for the lessons they reflect to us(during their journey)

in an effort to grow us up along the way."

Kim Muench

"Becoming Me While Raising You--A Mother's Journey to Her Self"