These Are Days

A song by 10,000 Maniacs was pretty much an anthem for the last two years of high school for my friends and I – These Are Days.  The lyrics meant something to us as we ended high school and went out into the big world. And we saw it performed live at the Garden State Arts Center (it is not called that anymore) during the summer of 1993. The song drifted through my mind with its powerful lyrics during a quiet moment on a recent vacation with my children.

You see – our summer days are no longer magically lazy and easily fun. As I look back over my years as a mother, I had no idea as to how charmed our summers were when my children were little. I worked part-time, and had a very flexible schedule. We did not have to be up and about at any particular time, and the bulk of our time was spent with friends at parks or lazily drifting away the afternoon at a pool or swim club. I had no idea during that time that it would be fleeting and should have been treated as precious memories.

Fast forward to today, and I work full time in a relatively demanding job. Which is important and necessary. But wildly inconvenient for summer schedules with kids who are ages 15, 12 and 9. Here is what a summer day looks like:

8 AM – drop off Jack at cross country conditioning

9 AM – drop off Connor at park camp

10 AM – pick up Jack from cross country conditioning

10:30 AM – drop off Kate at dance camp

12 PM – pick up Connor from camp

12:30 PM – pick up Kate from dance camp

Then technology breaks during the afternoon and some kind of enriching activity. Or we make a lame attempt at both. And I pay a lovely and responsible young lady $17.50 an hour to basically be a chauffeur.

I realize this is not special in our world today, and every other parent reading this can relate.

But, man, it makes the quiet downtime moments so darn special.

Hence this reflective moment and photo.

The kids and I were referred by a wonderful friend to check out Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie on a recent road trip, and it was well worth the stop. The kids and I found ourselves on a gorgeous and temperate summer day with a hilly beach all to ourselves. And my kids acted like kids… no age difference between them. Just playing in the surf, throwing the football around, and going on beach walks. It was easy and fun.

I watched them from on top of a small hill perch, and found myself overwhelmed with gratitude and joy. That amidst the crazy, we can find this time together. That I am somehow the mother of these three amazing children. And that we are all healthy, happy, safe, well loved and have everything we need. And that I am starting to glimpse the futures ahead of them – especially Jack and Kate – and they will be brilliant and good.

I find our world to be bizarre and unkind and just too much at least once every day. And I am guessing that I am not alone.

So my challenge to you, dear reader, is to try to find the small and quiet moments and remember that you are blessed and lucky somehow and in some way. And I hope the sentiment in the lyrics below can hold true for you.

These are days you’ll remember
Never before and never since
I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it
You’ll know it’s true 
That you are blessed and lucky
It’s true that you 
Are touched by something 
That will grow in you, in you