The Fall

For me, there's no better time during the year that is more reminiscent than this fall-like weather.  It brings me back to my childhood in the blink of an eye as I prepare for my kids' Halloween costumes, attend their fall activities and exchange the seasonal clothes.  My mom always made the holidays so special, but fall reminds me of smell of the lingering smoke from fireplaces or firepits as we walked down the street, eating chili for supper, searching for the latest Halloween costumes, preparing caramel apples, feeling the crunch of fallen leaves beneath my feet and jumping in huge piles of leaves, wearing sweatshirts, smelling the crisp air and last but not least......homework! 

My kids have settled into their school routines, and we are again blessed with great teachers all around.  My prayer each school year is to have teachers who understand my children and teach accordingly.  They all seem to care or at least show they care by their emails and positive comments.  This was Chrissy's favorite time of year, too, as her kids settled in and she could enjoy all the tasty foods, especially more around Thanksgiving.  Even though you might not indulge in the same foods as her; you wanted to taste them as she gave them a new level of scrumptiousness!  An abundance of food to her meant our  family gathering together, not only to eat, but to share those infamous stories year after year.  Being the youngest, I think she treasured those stories more than the rest of us because she missed so much of mom and dad's time.  She so loved the Halloween season, decorating and scaring her kids with the latest Halloween gadgets.  Yes, we Meyers are a sick lot of people as we love to scare the pants off of our next generation.  We used to scare each other all the time as kids until we laughed our a**** off.  The other day I did something to scare Eric, and he looked at me with such disgust, but he still had a smile.  I told him it's part of the initiation process into this family.  You either join us or NOT.  It's up to you!?? 

This time of season brings me joy, remembering all the good things life has given me, especially the memories.  While at times those memories can be bittersweet, thinking of what is lost; I try to remember the blessings in what was, the joy of living life now.  In grief, the joy can take a back seat so I treasure what was and what is.  I don't think too much of what will be because you never know.  None of us knows the plan, but we savor the memories and live for now.  Anything more can bring pain, and all we have is right now.  As my dear friend Kathy says,  "All we have is today....this moment."  For today I enjoy the fall and all it has to share with me.  I love the fall!!