A perfect summer day. . .or two

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” - Winnie the Pooh
This is the summer that I'm really not going to get and as a teacher and a kid at heart, that makes me sad. Or at least that's what I've told myself, but yesterday could be categorized as a beautiful summer day.

I started my day with my friend Norah picking me up at 5:10am to go running.  I am lucky enough to have a group of friends who motivate me and keep my accountable with running. As I often say. . . .their jog is my sprint and we spend Tuesday mornings at the track. Well they spend Tuesdays at the track; I sometimes make it, but our camaraderie has kept me running. I sure am going to miss chasing them.

As a way to send me off, they had champagne mimosas. . at 6am.

 So thankful for girlfriends. I met Jodie the first summer I moved to this neighborhood  and her beauty was only surpassed by her kindness and fun spirit.


Then, I came home to send off Anna Cate to camp and Molly to swim practice.
 Molly was so excited she is swimming 5 events. In soaking up her success of swim team, she is not phased by leaving it. I have a lot to learn from this sentiment.

Both yesterday and today the girls have had play dates at the pool with friends and in the evening  we were treated to a lovely dinner from our dear friend Marian. Marian's mother and BJ's mother were friends so I think of it as a 4th generation friendship and the epitome of my Dad's words "friends don't have to be your own age."


These steps are famous because Abraham Lincoln spoke to the people of Fredericksburg during the Civil War. It was a special evening being with Marian. 


 We went to FOODE which is in a building that used to be a bank and on these steps, Abe Lincoln spoke to the people of  Fredericksburg during the Civil War.
 It was a nice place to be to celebrate Virginia with one her finest belles.
 Anna Cate couldn't join us since she is at camp.


Marian and Molly did 1st grade together this year.  After Molly went to Maine with her folks from church, Marian went to Molly's class to read to them about cranberry farming the week of Thanksgiving, but that special occasion became a monthly treat for the first graders in Mrs. Rivers' class. Marian taught many many years and retired many years ago, but she has not lost her touch.  




It was a beautiful summer evening in Fredericksburg. 
We dropped MumMum off and she and Molly did their trick for bread.

As we drove off, I noticed BJ was crying. . .his first expression of emotion about leaving. Clearly, Marian is a big deal -- she is almost like an institution and the epitome of grace, class, love and what we have loved about our life in Fredericksburg.  A perfect end to a perfect summer's day,
 Some of our friends have signed this quilt made for us. In its messages, I realize the truth of life I learned in a perfect summer day. I appreciate the messages, the sentiments, and the experiences worth writing about as we say goodbye, but as we live in the present -- it's all we ever really have anyway. 

Here are the girls Saturday night at a church picnic. 

 My goodness am I going to miss Erin and the influence she has in their life. . .and mine.

Tonight while Anna Cate is at  camp with Erin, Molly enjoyed a great swim meet. It is not lost on me that the last night in our home we were at a swim meet -- what I'll miss the most about living here in the summer. 


“Goodbyes make you think. They make you realize what you’ve had, what you’ve lost, and what you’ve taken for granted.” -Ritu Ghatourey

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