The End of Summer?

Cal said he was ready to go back to school today. He is a 7th grader this year and he has had his fill of laying around playing video games, reading (at least 100 books this summer), and hanging out with friends. He is simply ready to call it done. Kylie is not much better. Even though she has spent most of the summer with her best friend Melinda (they have played together at least two days a week), she too is ready to go back (3rd grade is exciting). That leaves Krista and myself. We are parents, breadwinners, homemakers. There is no such thing in our world as too much summer.

The end of summer is always an interesting time. You try to cram in one last trip or get yourself that one last goody, finish that one last book, you just want to go out with a bang. I'm never ready for the end of summer as I have never had a job that required me to be a full time worker during that time. Most of my life has centered around the summer. At one time I actually thought that I needed to have a job to keep myself busy during the summer. I'm glad that I've gotten over that. I'm glad that I have found things to keep myself satisfied.

I can't help but think that what life would be if I would have continued down the path I was on. My focus was so different just a few months ago. My life has gone through such a massive shift from constant cynic and worry wort to optimist and thinker (not obsessor). It took a point in my life where I didn't know if I could make it to and from work. It took a situation where I could not work with the people I was directly in charge of. It took a situation where I had to look at the way I wanted to live the rest of my life. It didn't take long once I took a look at my family picture and saw the faces of those who matter most.

We often talk about being able to spend time with our families and then coming up with 1001 things to do when the time permits us to be with our family. I've spent a lot of time with my family. I've been able to enjoy time with them as a group and as individuals. I've been able to talk to all of them about what they really want to do in the future and they have been able to watch the change in me take place. It has simply been an amazing summer.

Summer is ending because we all have to go back to school. What has taken place this summer with my family will never end. It is one of those events that you absolutely know has made a change in your life that you will be able to point at forever. It was the time when I started figuring out who I am, what is really important and what is not. I'm a better person now then when I started off this year. I'm looking forward to school because I have a very clear plan of what to do and when to do it. It isn't often that this takes place, but I sure am glad that it happened this summer.