As the school year ended for my youngest, I found myself reminiscing over the past years and events involving both of my children.
My oldest is now grown, having graduated from a trade school and has entered the workforce. She is doing well, and I am so proud of her. I remember the days of carting her to various practices and such like they were yesterday.
Everyone can warn, tell, lecture you on how you should enjoy these busy days, because they won’t last forever, but it doesn’t hit the same as when you’re actually there, in the moment. I am there and it has hit me hard.
My youngest will enter her senior year in the fall. The fact I used to stress over dinners, work and so many things seems silly now. I would not have missed it all for the world. No one starved and my job was still there. Some laundry waited while jerseys got washed for the fourth time that week, but everything eventually got done.
For my oldest, it was endless rehearsals, makeup and outfits with the occasional cheer competition thrown in. For my youngest, school sports are her thrill, and she takes a lot of pride in her teams.
As she enters into her last year of everything, I fully intend to soak up every minute of it. I have a cousin with three small children who is living the “stress” part of this wonderful situation. I remind her she’ll miss it someday, and she says she knows, but I don’t think she’ll really know until the last one is a senior.
I don’t know if I really knew until then, even though I would give the same advice that I had received over the years.
I am so thankful for these memories, and I am excited for what lies ahead for my children, but I will miss the endless laundry, tracking of schedules, late nights, early mornings, and miles upon miles on my vehicle.
As the summer begins, I can’t help but think how next summer so much will end, but so much will begin as well.
Angie Magnuson, a DePue native, has resided in Putnam County for the past 20 years where she lives with her two daughters and their dog.