Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I love listening to the Retro Lunch on 105.5 every weekday. There's an old song I've heard, and yes, remember when it was new... and the main line is "Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes". That's been on my mind a lot lately, changes, no the song. (though songs do get stuck in my head often. Doesn't everyone have music playing in the back of their minds?)

Anyways, (as Connie always says)... Change has been on my mind a lot lately. Life keeps changing, as it should. One minute I'm a parent of elementary school children, and my world is filled with crayons and Lego's. With one blink, and it's Final Fantasy and Lincoln Park. I try not to blink, but it happens, and then my sons are off foraging their way in the wilderness of the world, and my daughter is preparing for the same.

So, change keeps coming, no matter how tightly we hold on to it. So, I have been preparing, in many ways. Recently I have begun a major decluttering of my home & shed... I have two decades worth of paraphernalia to sort through, and decide what to keep and what to find new homes for. The very air is rife with memories and emotion, but I have to continue to forage on. I have to prepare for the new adventures in my life.

New Beginnings

This week, I'm facing a new beginning. My daughter, my youngest child, Catherine, is heading off to college. For the first time in over a dozen years, I no longer have any kids in regular public school. No more yellow school buses, parental forms to sign, birthday cupcakes to bake, no school concerts.

Instead, I watch as she prepares for her first college class at the local community college. A new back pack with wheels, for crossing the campus, very expensive books, and of course, forms. However, this time, she's the one filling them out, signing them.

Strangely, I find that I have the same worries as before (I know, I know...I do worry too much!). Will she be able to find her classes? Does she have the right school supplies? Will she make friends? Oddly, this familiarity comforts me.

Whether I'm ready for it or not, this change is coming. This Wednesday, she heads off to her very first college class....an Art class, followed by a gym class. Then on to the academics. We are as prepared for this as we can be, or she is at least. All I can do is sit on the wayside, with fresh baked Snickerdoodles on hand, to listen as she tells about her first day, and try not to flash back to the similar scene many years ago. Then it was a little girl, bow in her dark curls, wearing a ruffled dress, regaling me about the adventures of kindergarten.

Funny thing is, back then she had a pink backpack too. Guess some things stay the same, despite the changes.