Closing the Cover

Every time I finish a good book, I have that day- after -Christmas-it's-really-over let down. I hear a lot about chapters of life. But, lately, it doesn't seem that we so much finished a chapter as we finished a whole book, closed the cover, and tucked it away on a shelf only to be revisited for reference or when it's a rainy day and there's not much else to do.

We said goodbye to our first home. It was a good house. We brought home two new babies. We got snowed in at Christmas and celebrated by wrapping up books that RJ already had since I had been super mom and pre-delivered the presents to grandma's house a week earlier. We drank a few glasses of really good champagne (and lots of pretty bad wine) in that kitchen. I said goodbye to my Catty girl, and we welcomed our Boo and Ben cats.  It's not so much that I'll miss the house. I definitely won't miss the neighbors' dogs or the smell from the Purina plant--they cook a lot of cat chow (Boo and Ben could frequently be found paying homage at the window). But, I'll miss our friends. And the neighborhood pool and park.

We said goodbye to the house with RJ. We goodbyed his "new" room and the kitchen. We thanked the ovens for baking all of the cookies and cakes. We thanked the bath tubs for soaking babies bottoms, and we said goodbye to the dining room, living room, and Sissy's room too. We said goodbye to the vacuum cleaner until Mommy reminded us that the dirt will be following us as will the vacuum cleaner.

I didn't cry when we said goodbye. But then I had to go back for one last look. I picked up the birdbath out of the backyard. And more dish towels out of the drawers. (I swear we had them all when we left the first time. They mated and reproduced. I should have warned the new owners--all of the household junk replicates in that house. There is NO way I carried in that much junk. I am not a hoarder. If I say it enough, it becomes true.).

This was in our couch. All of it. There are shoes in there! How is that possible?!

We have officially arrived at the new house. There are too many boxes to let you inside yet. 

Our book of life has been complicated the past two months. And some goodbyes are harder than most. We said goodbye to the best dog in the whole world. Zeus died while we were on vacation. And I held it together until we got home. Until we got the kids in bed. And until I could finally collapse and mourn the loss of a friend. Sometimes there are moments in life when you wish you had a camera. But you don't. So, you take a mental snapshot and hope it beats the test of time. I remember walking one evening with my dad and Zeus, and we stopped along a concrete retaining wall--Zeus on top, and dad and I sitting. Dad and I both had our arms around Zeus--he was massive then. And stinky. And slobbery. And it was perfect. Zeus was a friend, a confidant, our entertainer, and our protector. Someday I'll tell his story (it involves a stripper, an ice storm, and a parrot--curious?). But for now, we've closed the cover on his book of life. And, we miss him. But, when I see a golf ball, I'll smile and think how he loved to chase them. And, when I hear a squirrel chatter, I'll smile and know that Zeus is talking to him.

Someday, when it's rainy outside, I'll dust off my Book of Zeus and add more pictures. For now, it's too new. Too raw. Too hard. We miss him. 

We said goodbye to three-year old preschool this month too. The last day of school still smells the same as it did when I was 5 . A combination of dry erase markers, dust, Elmer's, construction paper, and flip flops. RJ sang.   He's not shy. He danced a little too. And when I asked him how he got lucky enough to sit by his best friend, his response was, "Ms. Bowlby said she sit on us if we naughty." Wise woman. His little Lutheran school blessed him on his way, and we prayed for a healthy happy summer. We celebrated another year of gymnastics success--though my son has been gently referred to a "stomp and kick" class. We think that's the secret code for "he's delightful and fun, but he still can't do a backward roll after two years, so we're thinking the Olympics aren't in his future." The M & M Olympics, on the other hand, were well within in his reach and he rocked them.

Why yes he did wear a plaid sport coat. 

Why yes, she does have mice on her toes. 

He can balance beam all by himself now!

Club Tumble Town.

This was last year at Club Tumble Town. Stop growing up so fast please! Mommy can't take this!

I cried a little when I left that empty shell of a house. It was a good home. I have good memories there. I cried a lot to say goodbye to Zeus. He was a good dog. The best. I didn't cry when RJ graduated preschool. It's preschool. He's in the living room playing trains right now, not moving into a frat house.  It's sunny today. And I'm content with a side of after-Christmas-it's-really-over let down. The covers have been closed on some books of life. But, someday, when it's rainy, I'll dust off these books and remember.

P.S. GiGi has been along for the ride.

And I think she's okay with that.