In the Blink of an Eye…

I blinked…

and summer was over.

The kids are now back in school.

It isn’t until they’re actually back in school that I realize I haven’t formed a complete thought in about 2 ½ months!  I kind of wondered if I’d ever find my writing voice again.  It bopped in for a few fleeting moments this summer, but quickly ran elsewhere when cries of I’m bored, I’m hot, I’m hungry, I want this, I need that, swirled in the air.

But on my morning walk with Meg today, I realized we were not alone.  My Writing Voice had gleefully jumped aboard my shoulder half way down our favorite path.

Ah.

Back to school.

Our children’s Waldorf School has a wonderful tradition of beginning and ending every year with a Rose Ceremony.  The incoming first graders are paired with eighth graders, who are beginning their last year in the school.  In the fall, the name of an eighth grade student is announced from the left side of the stage, followed by the announcement of a first grade student’s name from stage right.  Both children, the big one and the little one, cross the stage and meet in the middle.  The big one, the eighth grader, then hands the new first grade student a welcoming rose.  In the spring, the entire process is repeated, but at that point the first grader hands a rose to his or her graduating eighth grader.

It’s impossible not to cry.

I’m crying just writing about it.

Somehow the teachers always manage to get the student pairings just right.  When Tucker’s little guy crossed the stage, I inhaled a quick breath and squeezed Lee’s hand.  Could I be the only one to notice that this first grader was a miniature Tucker?  The way they both shyly forced themselves across the stage in their khaki pants, button down shirt and tie?  The way their hair sloped down on their foreheads over their big eyes?  The way they both leaned side by side, flat against the back wall when their turn was over?

“Your first grader looks just like you,” I dared to say to Tuck after the ceremony, imagining he’d shoo me away in embarrassment.

Instead, he looked at me with those big round eyes and a rare toothy smile, “I know,” he said.

Andie began middle school, entering the sixth grade.  In true Andie fashion, she’s already lamenting the end of the year.  “I just can’t believe Tucker will be graduating,” she keeps saying.  She spent much of the summer weepy at bedtime, grieving the loss of “the little boy Tucker used to be” and now at bedtime she’s begun turning the focus inward.  “I’m so sad to be growing up,” she says.  I keep reminding her, and myself, that her little self still lives right within her.  Sniff.

So, what’s new with the book?  Well, I’m still doing quite a few radio interviews (ClickHERE to check out the latest) and I just booked a flight to Chicago for later in September where I’ll attend the annual Preemie Parent Alliance Summit.  Upon my return, I’ll be traveling down to our old town of Holliston, Mass for a book signing at the annual Celebrate Holliston event (I’ll be at Fiske’s booth if you’re in the area!).

Earlier this week, Preemie was featured on the website of one of my favorite authors, Katrina Kenison!  I was so honored! To read her incredible post, please click this link –www.katrinakenison.com and don’t forget to comment and/or share it with your friends!

And now, as we all try to find our back-to-school rhythm, Meg and I will continue to take lots of walks, reflect on this summer and all the others, and invite my Writing Voice to come along!

(Right about this time last year I was in the same reflective place which I wrote about HERE.)

So what’s new with you?  Are you sending kids back to school?  What emotions does fall stir up for you? I’d love to hear!