Every day, as I take hundreds of strides across the elementary school blacktop, I remind myself that my steps are falling on borrowed, temporal ground. The view I have of my kids running toward me every afternoon is fleeting and bittersweet. Oh, the places you'll go! I think, acutely aware of the college campuses that will eventually bear their footsteps as they walk away from me and toward something new.
Should I ever take my eyes off this eventual reality, meeting parents who are looking just a few months ahead to their son or daughter's high school graduation brings me squarely back to it, reminding me that these days--these steps--with my kids are numbered and should be walked with great care.
Jarren is one such mother who has certainly grasped this reality. She works in a classroom full of kindergartners so that she can be home in the afternoons to greet and guide her two teenagers, both of whom she packed lunches for earlier that morning. She is not letting these days pass her by, especially as she prepares her first-born, Sierra, to step off to college to study forensic psychology in, of all places, the same Iowa town where I was born!
I so enjoyed watching the two of them interact during our shoot on Sunday because it gave me a clear view of just how possible it is to let go of kids without losing them, you know?
Thanks for the walk and for the perspective, ladies. You gave me so much to see and now I get to return the favor. Enjoy this preview of our time together!
"So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact and remember that life's a great balancing act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left."
View all of Sierra's photos right here!
