Letting Go

Letting Go is the title of one of my favorite girls. I have her in my livingroom. Just a sec, I'm going to go take a picture. I picked her for her colors but really the theme of Letting Go has been a prominent one this summer. Okay, here she is:
That's a little blurry but you can get the general idea for now. I forgot to set the camera to have it work better for the web. So many of my favorite things also are in this picture.

This summer there was so much change. Both my parents and Dan's mom moved from the family homes into homes that better fit their current needs. Their timing was perfect. They had wonderful buyers and easy transactions. It WAS all good. Yet, it's still sad to say goodbye to the homes where you've celebrated the last twenty or so Christmases, birthdays, and other holidays and family gatherings. Every time I did something, I was also saying to myself, "This is the last time I'll..."

I did feel good that I had so many good memories of the time our families spent in these places. My children spent so much time with their grandparents there. I'm such a homebody, I was at both homes every week while I still lived in West Virginia. Even after I moved to Michigan, I still managed once a month. Texas has been more of a challenge. I like this picture of the farm. It's always beautiful but in this picture I can see my Dad's truck reflected in the pool room window.

I also sent both girls to college this summer. This has not been the most drastic letting go situation since I've seen at least one of them every week since they moved. Still, they are gone most of the time and that's been a big change. I'm sure I miss them more than they miss me at this point.

The older I get the more convinced I become that accepting change and letting go gracefully are among the secrets of happiness.