Driving to school this morning, I was (perhaps illegally) able to capture a quiet milestone. Our (relatively) reliable truck reached 100,000 miles.
While it was a pretty cool thing to see on the dashboard, it is not that specific number that matters. It’s the miles that led to it that really count. In 100,000 miles we brought two babies home from the hospital, traveled across the country to places like Savannah and Chicago, made thousands of trips to the grocery store, listened to countless songs, and even played a few road games.
Those miles let us build relationships with family and friends, and with each other.
Another quiet milestone we reach today is preschool registration. While Anthony began this journey last year, my baby (who is not really a baby at all) begins his preschool journey today. By filling out these papers, I reluctantly acknowledge that I am diving headfirst into the school age years with both of my boys, and in the process I am leaving their babyhood behind. No bells are ringing or fireworks exploding as I slip these papers into the registration envelope.
Just a feeling of nostalgia and a bit of breathlessness at how fast time passes.
Today also marked a sad milestone. Willow, the awesomely lazy yellow lab who joined the family a decade ago, chose to instead join her sister Haley today. Unless you are a “dog person” it is impossible to understand what an important role these animals can play in a family. For our family, Willow and Haley brought together some otherwise cynical young adults, and gave us a good dose of “puppy.” And while Haley has been gone awhile, Willow has been steadfast in our world. Willow has been around for two weddings and a funeral, three grandbabies, hundreds of family dinners, and every gathering we celebrated at my parents house.
Willow will be missed at our little family gatherings, and every other day, too. But she is somewhere over that Rainbow Bridge getting into mischief with her sister.
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