Last Week ~ A Reflection

This is our last week of summer. On Monday teachers go back for two days and the first day of school is next Wednesday. Anna will be back on campus on Sunday, and Abigail is involved in a program called 'link crew' which gives orientation for upcoming freshman so she will be busy those teacher days too. 

This last week the calendar is full of lots of little things. There are some doctor appointments that have cropped up and have been added in even though we tried so hard to fit them in the first week of summer back to back. 

I've already been in my classroom setting up during bits of time just here and there. I love to pop in at odd hours for just little bits. 

There are what feels like a million errands for Anna for college, for Abigail for high school, and for my own classroom. 

But we are still doing wonderful things like: 

reading on the couch after lunch

being together all day long 

having dinner on the porch at night...

I know what I will miss oh so much next week, although I'll be so busy in the first week of school to realize it. I'll miss us all being together. We scatter starting on Sunday and we're not together again until October. 

Yesterday was the last time for us this summer to be at Mass all together. And I soaked in. 

It was a particularly beautiful Mass. 

To begin with as we were walking in Sister Cristel asked Anna and I to come over to her and she was asking about college. When Anna told her where she was going, sister knew the theme song as she used to be a catholic high school teacher and many of her students went on to Holy Cross. She said, "that college is very comforting" and I added in "yes, to the families as well". That was such a sweet moment. 

The music, the homily given by a visiting sister from Uganda who spoke about her story and how 

1. Don't be mad at God for the difficulties - He is preparing you for something he has for you

2. Parents, don't give up on your children - do what you can and God will do the rest

and so much more

And truly it was just so wonderful to be sitting in our church for the last time all together for the summer. 

Summer was long. Summer was wonderful. And it's time to go back!