Marshmallows

"It's a memory that's actually more like a photograph"

A gentlemen I met with at work yesterday used that line. And I like it. I had one of those last week. As Mike and I were leaving the house to go grab dinner one of our girls was standing at the door shouting out to us...something kookie. (I can't imagine what our neighbors think of us!) And in that moment my memory took one of those photos. I realized how unbelievably grateful I am to still have my girls at home. This is not a "failure to launch" situation. They both made deliberate choices that kept them here. One wisely delayed school until she was ready for college and the work it would take. The other worked a year saving to earn money and the opportunity to live, learn and serve internationally for six months and she is now home and in school. Being home with your parents isn't very normal here. Seriously, who wants to hang out with the 'rents at their age... but they have somehow found a way to survive and thrive :). In that snapshot moment I was also profoundly aware of what our relationships would be like if we had been suburban "normal" and they had done what most kids do, in fact, what their brother did, and moved away for school at 18. I remember moving away at that age. And sometimes I feel frozen at that age, when I go home to visit my Mom. It's hard to stay connected at a distance. It just is. And, I feel like we have been granted these extra moments to grow together, to prop one another up, to challenge and frustrate one another in close proximity to look for our clothes in one another's rooms and to occasionally find marshmallows in my driveway. And, I'm so grateful.