The Midnight Swim and the End of Summer
In Georgia where I live it is the first day of school… and interestingly each one of our 5 children are attending different schools.(I’m including a pre-school for our 3 year old Ashlyn). Jake has his first day of high school, Josh his first day in middle school… I can’t even remember my first day anymore. They are nervous and excited… their Mom is too.
They’ve all left for the day now…and I’m thinking …WOW, is the summer really gone? That was fast. I didn’t accomplish everything I had hoped. Heck, I didn’t even come close… the wish list only has a couple of items checked off.
Still - it was a great summer and as a family we did a lot of things that weren’t on the list. And perhaps the most memorable of those things happened Saturday night. All the friends had gone home it was nearly midnight and myself and the 4 oldest decided to go swimming. The pool was the perfect temperature and we just swam and talked for a while… then we turned off all the lights and laid on the top step with just our heads out of the water and stared into the night sky…. and talked until 1 in the morning. The stars seemed amazing bright, the shooting stars caused exclamations of “did you see that” and seemed to be heaven sent just for us. It was one of those magical moments for a parent where kids talked freely and listened intently…where we all felt close and no one wanted the moment or the memory being made to end. But finally shriveled and shivering we called it a night
I’m not sure if I can find the words to describe how I felt then…or even how I’m feeling now. One part melancholy, 3 parts joy. And though the list isn’t accomplished… yet I still feel quite happy and content…satisfied that what we did do, we did together and it was enough. Maybe this is what they are talking about when they counsel us to find “joy in the journey”.
Happiness is mostly a by-product of doing what makes us feel fulfilled. — Dr. Benjamin Spock
Enjoy your summer, enjoy your relationships, enjoy the journey… as you live fully your life.
Kirk Out
August 9th, 2010 at 9:20 am
Beautiful post, Kirk.
Until college, we never went “back to school” until after Labor Day ~ so Labor Day signals the end of summer to me, even though it won’t officially end until September 21st (or so).
Hope you have a chance to enjoy a few more midnight swims before you close the pool for the season.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:28 am
Kirk, I know without a doubt that this moment will be remembered by your children. I think that’s so cool that you have the mindset of enjoying them in the moment instead of living by rules like “going to bed on time”. You’re a good dad with your priorities in order. I think that’s great!
I have recently decided to quit my corporate job and stay home with my two toddlers (a 1 year old and almost 3 year old). While the idea of taking such a big financial hit is scary to me (okay it’s terrifying!), it’s these type of experiences, that I want more energy to enjoy. I’m sure they happen now and I just miss them. I’m too wrapped up with emails and being on-call and to-do lists to see them with any frequency, let alone enjoy them when they happen.
My daily steadfast prayer is that my newfound job as stay-at-home-mom will be filled with these moments and that I’ll seize them and relish in them. Not just for MY sake, but for the kids’ sake and the sake of others around me.
August 9th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Incredible post!
August 10th, 2010 at 2:09 am
To me, this is the magic Kirk. Your story and your finish reminded me of the quote my sister has in her email.
“Joy is not in things, it is in us” - Richard Wagner
Little wonder your night had the impact it did as you sat and enjoyed that joy within each other. Good on you for leading and loving your kids by just being with them.
DB