Boy gone again

We are so on the cusp of a different life.

Our house is full of our kids right now: one still home (a high school senior now, oh my) and two (the married ones) living in the apartment downstairs. Middle One has gone on another adventure - this time without a program or plans (which means no one to call other than the US embassy if he goes missing). He thoughtfully left many many many boxes of his stuff, plus his beer making equipment, stacked around so it almost feels as if he is here.

But this time next year our house is emptying out. In my mind it plays like a Steve Martin movie with a parade loading up and driving off, with us aging parents smiling and waving from the front door. The Two will be finished with grad school and in the next stage of life, probably in a home provided by the church this time. The Middle One will have come home and gone again, this time out of state to a med school or public health school. And our babe will be off at college negotiating roommates, bookstores, mealplans, laundromats, and girls.

We've been married 33 years but it's been 27 since we had an extended time of just the two of us. We enjoy each other's company (for the most part!) and are looking forward to returning to being just us, following our nose on the weekends. No going to church "for the sake of the children" if we prefer St Mattress one week. No staying up til midnight to make sure someone gets home in one piece. (Included in college tuition is the knowledge that someone ELSE will get the first call). No cooking supper if we don't feel like it - we can fix soup or a salad and call it a day.

The Two tell us they absolutely will not have children for at least three more years. We two nod and agree how wise that is, and smile to ourselves that sometimes Goddess sends you children on her schedule. At some point life will change again and we'll see the world through some new little eyes, and that will be a delight.

So......... we're still too busy with our family, and content to be too busy, knowing that next year we'll be busy with rediscovering each other, if we are granted the luxury of time together.