Don't Blink

The song, “Don’t Blink,” by Kenney Chesney with his lyrics: “Don’t Blink. Life goes by faster than you think”…hit home for me…and hit hard.

We will be taking Wishy to college on Saturday and I’m trying not to focus on…how much I will miss her…how quickly all three kids have grown… how PaulA and I will be entering a new phase in our lives. Nope…can’t think of that. Right now we are in crunch mode…organizing, packing and acquiring what Bri will need for life as a college co-ed.

Bri is Miss Independent…Miss Self-Sufficient…so naturally she has an alphabetized, categorized, and organized To-Do List with items to purchase…shampoo, sheets, shower caddy. My days with her are numbered…so any errand, any place she has to go…I ask if I can tag along. So there I am…right there beside her…like the faithful family katdog who jumps in the car next to his master, “Take me with you.”

Our first stop…Target. As we walk by the ‘Back to School’ aisle of school supplies, I’m drawn to the lunch boxes. I pick one up and work the silver latches….back and forth. Remembering...my kids getting ready for elementary school . Picking out their notebooks, backpacks, new shoes and outfit for their first day. The metal suitcase lunchbox says it all: “I’m a kid on the first day of school.”…both…shiny, new and no dents.

So I’m trying not to focus on what it will be like in THREE days. What it will feel like to drop our youngest child off at college…and wishing my sweet wish was 8 years old again picking out a new lunch box.

I’m trying hard not to Blink…like Kenney Chesney’s song says. Problem is…I can’t see through my tears.