Mile Marker 2647

My baby boy started high school a few weeks ago.  He rolled away nonchalantly with his sister at the wheel.

No first day of school photos.

Journeying into uncharted territory is tough, but he looked snazzy in his polo and shorts (a uniform requirement).

At lunchtime he sat down at a table, alone...surrounded by chairs that slowly disappeared as other students needed more around their tables until one lone chair and he remained.  He grinned charismatically as he recounted the tale.  (I wanted to cry).

The next day he got up and did it all over again with a sense of determined perseverance.  He understands you just keep doing what is hard, hoping it will get easier.

That is why hope was left in Pandora's box because sometimes that is all you have.  Hope.

Just over eight weeks earlier on June 12, 2014, he was gathering with his friends on a breezy California Bay morning as they prepared to line up for their eighth grade graduation ceremony.  He wore his humble roots proudly.

For the second time in two weeks, I watched as one of my children filed into the PAC for graduation.

The wait was long, but the grin told me it was worth it!

He was easy to spot in the sea of classmates.

His first congratulatory hug from his dad...priceless.

Surrounded by sister love!

A good friend.

Another good friend who would be relocating a few days later too.  With an adventuresome spirit they navigated their first day of sailing together on the breezy lagoon~smooth sailing it was not but laughter and determination persevered. I know that spirit will carry them forward again.

No matter where these young men journey, I know they have memories to last a lifetime, and I hope that someday their paths will cross again.

Another Start

I have so much to say I do not even know where to start, so I haven’t.

Today I am forging forward to try to find my voice again as I gaze at my backyard with the towering trees and green grass rolling down to the pond and watch the hummingbirds flit to and fro enjoying our new feeder.  

I soak up the serenity, as my yard is trying to soak up the rainwater from the torrential morning storm.  The humid warmth that follows the rain is sweltering.  Nonetheless, I bask in the quiet morning.

I do not miss the roar of the city, as I prefer the chatter of the cicadas and other bugs that make my trees “talk.”  My niece asked me one morning~”Auntie Lori, why do your trees make noise?  Our trees are quiet.”  Pennsylvania taught me that trees can "talk," and there I learned to love my towering, talking trees.  On her first night, Nikela insisted on cracking the window so she could hear the cacophonous cicadas.

I do not miss the gridlock of traffic either.  The narrow lane that lends home is picture perfect in the morning as we stroll to the bus stop.  Chayse and the neighborhood kids scamper to and fro chasing squirrels or stop to check out a web, discovering the morning beauty of nature.

 New home. Sweet. Home.

Lori's Boot Camp

After all the pomp and circumstance, the San Francisco adventure began with an early morning boat ride to Alcatraz on May 30.  The typically foggy, cool morning set the scene perfectly for our prison adventure.

Though the buildings have been battered by weather, the flowers and landscape are beautiful.

Nonetheless, the weathered buildings made for good black and white photos~my favorite cousins' photo!

The amazing audio tour of the prison was filled with stories and details of life within the walls of the most famous prison in America.  

With crazy eyes, he plays the prisoner part well.

A rare photo with mom and me!

A former inmate now makes a legitimate living in his old age selling his story to tourists~aka us!

After spending the morning hiking around the island, we cruised back across the bay to Fisherman's Wharf where we found a cozy table for 10 at Bubba Gump's.  We filled our bellies in preparation for the afternoon of city boot camp!

The hills of San Francisco are most memorable if you hike up and down them!  We paused at the bottom of Lombard street on our trek to Chinatown.

The bustling streets of Chinatown are filled with sights and sounds influenced by a homeland far away.  We explored the stores and visited the Golden Fortune Cook Factory and Portsmouth Park before finding the cable car stop.

We piled into the already full cable car for our ride back down to the water's edge. The boys snagged outside seats!  The rest of us held on to our bars and gratefully swayed with the car as it went up and down the hills!

The car emptied quickly as we made our way to Ghirardelli to enjoy ice-cream desserts beneath the iconic cityscape lights of an old landmark.

Our final trek was back to the car.  Twelve hours after we began our adventure we arrived home again, ready to rest our weary feet.

We have a photo album full of fun snapshots of the day, but it doesn't capture the banter of voices and easy laughter that makes family so fun!  

It was truly a memorable day.

A Milestone

Family tumbled off the planes on Wednesday, May 28~some earlier than others due to predictable airline unpredictabilities.  Nonetheless, they all arrived safely and in time to share in the celebration.

The next morning Graduation Day arrived with the final day of high school, so the girls were off early for their last exams, but by noon, teenagers were filling the house before heading off to bask by the pool in the sunshine and kick off summer vacation.  (Though all those California girls in bikinis stressed my sister-in-law as her son followed them out the door!)

Later the aroma of grilling tri-tip filled the air as Daddy careful tended the grill, and the succulent meat disappeared quickly as guests lined up and filled their plates.

Then we were all scrambling to get ready and out the door for graduation.  We scored a parking spot~nothing short of miraculous, and then we washed through the doors with the sea of parents. We escaped to the balcony where we discovered front row seats awaited!

In the predictable lull of ceremonies, I sat there quietly as my mind slowly started to absorb the reality that my daughter was graduating from high school.  The same little girl that introduced to parenthood and patiently endured our learning curve.  That little girl who I held so proudly in my arms after a short,  intense delivery.  That little third-grade girl who so bravely went off to camp up the Boulder in Big Timber, Montana.  I blinked and there she was...in her graduation cap and gown standing tall and beautiful in the back row.  Then I felt my heart tighten and tears well up...and I breathed just as deeply as I did during delivery.

She is so excited to embrace life, and I am so proud of her, but it is hard on a mama's heart to let her spread her wings and fly, as she will always be my little girl.

Congratulations, Nikela!

Candles

Day 1

The challenge of creating a birthday cake for Kiahra is the fact that she can bake an amazing cake from scratch.  I cannot compete--nor do I want to, except for this one day out of the year.  In my anxiety that the connoisseur may be disappointed in my attempt...I instead sought out my faithful fruit pizza recipe.

16 candles burned briefly to the tune of "Happy Birthday," and dessert disappeared in a single sitting!

Day 2

A road trip for the ice-cream connoisseur to Dairy Queen for her favorite cake kept me busy!

Snapshot moments = Laughter and Smiles

And then a wish...

0 to 18.

She changed our world forever.

From the first moment I laid eyes on her, the bond I felt from the first flutter kicks was welded forever.  As I held our tiny baby girl, I fell in love--a love so strong and so deep that even potty training and the teenage years couldn't shake it!

As I stared in wonder at the tiny life we had created, my heart melted.  Her sweet pink lips, button nose, tiny hands...and little toes.  She was perfect in my eyes.

I dreamed of the little girl she would become--full of smiles, who would grow in love and give love and find that elusive happiness.

I never dreamed the years would go by so quickly.

I never dreamed she would be blonde and 5'9" tall.

I never dreamed she would play water polo.

So, so many things I didn't anticipate, as I held her in my arms for the first time,

18 years ago. 

In our culture, she becomes an adult today.

High school graduation is just a few weeks away.

She is strong and ready for the next steps in her journey.

 But I never dreamed it would be so hard to let go...

even as I dreamed she would soar.

16

Precocious from the start, Miss Kiahra charms us with her sweet smiles.

Mamas have a heart full of their favorite moments that begin with that first flutter of movement. 

I love this photogenic moment with those gloriously kissable checks.

The sparkle in her eyes...and that full mouth smile.

The chubby little hand already intertwined in her shoelace.

Pure baby sweetness.

Six months old.

Now sixteen years old.

Driving.

Socializing.

Still precocious.

Still Mama's baby girl.

XOXOX