Transitions

The house is quiet today.
Two dogs are at daycare, the old dog is sleeping, and most, if not all, of the cats have found their own little spots of sunshine for napping.
Right now I'm the only human at home.
I just finished a bunch of cleaning, organizing, and fur-gathering, ate my lunch and am almost ready to exercise.
But it's so quiet.
I was never one of those moms who couldn't wait for the start of school in the fall. I missed my children terribly when they were gone from home, and I still do.
Each year now brings such monumental changes.
My oldest son is in his last year of graduate school. Younger son, though he lives at home, works odd hours and is usually either at work or asleep. My oldest daughter is braving her disability and living on campus this year.
And my youngest daughter. Oh, my youngest! This year she is gone full days, taking four high school classes.
I remember everyone's first days of preschool but hers might have been the most difficult for me. As the youngest, her milestones always herald the end of one mothering phase or another.
I didn't know what to do with myself for those precious 2 1/2 hours without a little one to talk to, read to, engage with. I remember dropping her off, driving to the library parking lot, and crying.
I feel a little bit like that today.
But like preschool so many years ago, I gradually will find my groove; sometimes spending my time wisely, other times not so much.
Each of life's transitions is bittersweet.
As we grow older, we leave our younger selves behind.

It's important to remember that every moment is a memory in the making.
And those memories we'll have forever.