Twenty five Years Ago

Very slowly I've made my way through to 1990, scanning old photos and slides. Considering the fact that I began with our own baby photos/stories and that I've done a form of scrapbooking since about 2000 . . . it's not too bad. Only ten years to go!  Somehow it still seems daunting.
I was scrolling through the last batch of old photos that have made it to our computer, focusing on where we were at about 25 years ago. It's something to think about. Where was I at, twenty five years ago? Did I realize the significance of the season I was in?

Pictures do tell a thousand words. Were it not for these visual images, I know it would all seem so much more like a vapor that appeared and then was gone . . . leaving me to guess at what really happend in that mist. Details that, at the time, felt like they were a part of a cycle that would just repeat themselves forever.

Daily, diligent reminders and incentives to practice in the winter,

turned into carefree summer escapes to the park with friends



or to the beach with cousins.

 

I had a good look at the kitchen that used to be. The table I set for family breakfast, lunch and dinner. We were lucky. After breakfast the girls got a ride to school with their dad on his way to work. School and the office were close by, so they often came home for lunch, again with dad. And no one started eating supper until we were all around the table again. Of course, over the years, some of that routine changed but suppers were planned for a time when we could all eat together.

I wish that I could zoom in on the calendar that was always crazy full of things to remember. The phone was on the counter under the calendar, sitting right beside the stove, plugged in to an outlet there. That's where I stood, talking, when I saw our toddler try to swallow a marshmallow and it was me who almost stopped breathing when I saw his face. It's where I stood when I gave my daily reports to my mother-in-law about what I was doing. LOL. If only I could have taken the phone to the laundry room and done some folding in the meantime.  I loved my canister set with hearts and houses on it, but I really don't know what was with the silver teaspoon collection!
(the photo was taken early 1987, when we listed our house to sell)

A little visit to the kid's rooms at night . . . standing by their bed and wondering how I could have been upset about spilled juice or a ball that landed in the wrong place . . .

 

or how they could fight like crazy and then not be able to sleep apart.  

I fell into bed beside my hubby at night, thankful for the day, but maybe more thankful for the night.

We look back and don't have to look too far to see how things are now, as we get to watch from another perspective. The batton has been passed and these sleeping kids are tucking in their own.

The world has changed in many more ways than meet the eye. In some ways, the things that were supposed to make life easier, have made life more demanding. Our grown children have, with more opportunities, more things to be accountable for and more challenges than ever. This is the reason that we, as grandparents, need remember and give a helping hand . . . first, in the folding of the hands to pray and second, to keep practicing the things that need not change.