GUILTY CHOCOHOLIC MAMA
adding up life together. It is true that at a certain age, our big kids start living large chunks of their lives away from us, even if they’re still mostly sleeping under our roofs. But my goodness: what are all those first 18 years for if not to build lifelong relationships? We have our children to hold them, we raise them to release them, but we love them for a lifetime. And that love happens during the 19th summer and beyond if we are granted the gift of those years. I just had one of the best four-day stretches EVER with my oldest child. She’s 23. The 18 summers I “got” with her are well in my rear- view mirror. But oh, the beauty right in front of me.
EIGHTEEN SUMMERS
by Elizabeth Spencer
T hey’re coming around again: the “you only get 18 summers with your kids, so make this one count” posts. And so, with respect, here I come again with my annual “NOOOO!” Not “noooo” as in, “I don’t want it to be true,” but “noooo” as in, in my experience (which is admittedly mine, but I’m so glad to know it is not mine alone), it isn’t true. I truly do understand where these sentiments come from. I know the posters want to encour- age parents to make the most of the summers when their children are living in their houses,
playing in their pools, eating their Popsicles. That intent is so right. But the truth is that we do not “get” any partic- ular number of summers or Christmases or days or minutes with our children, as if when they are born, they come with a warranty promising us a certain period when we can absolutely count on having them in our lives. This is true for all those we love! The future is promised to no one, which is why we are all wise to make any moment we are on—the one already given to us—count as we go about
127 MAY/JUNE 2022 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
126 SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • MAY/JUNE 2022
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator