Cha-Cha-Cha-Change!

Some of you have noticed – and commented – that I have not had much to say of late. I’ve said to at least one of you that there may be many people who wish it were so!

But it is true: I haven’t written a lot recently, not even in those little notebooks I always carry with me. I’ve been trying to come to grips with the rapid change that occurred over the last year. I’ve tracked back from the events of 2008 and determined that Halloween 2007 was the pivotal day and Lyssha’s home was the pivotal space (Lyssha is my oldest daughter.) Life was beginning to change in drastic ways and I had no idea!

On October 31, 2007, Natalie turned down a date with Nathan Terry because she was going to a Halloween Party at Lyssha’s and Nicole met Danny Saldivar at that same party.

In the weeks that followed, Nathan went off to Navy Basic Training in Illinois, and then to Florida to learn to repair aircraft radar. While he was in Florida, Nathan and Natalie began to correspond (whatever that means in this day of instant messages, cell phones, texting, and email.)

While that relationship simmered on the back burner, Nicole and Dan moved rapidly from interest, to interested, and then just as quickly to seriously interested. By the time Nicole and Dan were married in mid-July, Natalie and Nate were utilizing Verizon to its fullest – hour after hour, each and every day.

While Dan was attending Air Force Basic Training in Lackland, Texas, Nate “dropped by” on his way to his new duty station to “drop off” a ring. While Natalie planned a wedding that was as beautiful as it was different from Nicole’s, Dan went on to Missouri to learn Nuclear, Biological and Chemical emergency management.

After Nat and Nate tied the knot in a pre-Christmas ceremony that included both new sons-in-law in uniform, there was one last Christmas in South Jordan before everyone headed off in different directions.

Driving the rental truck from South Jordan to Whidbey Island, while Idaho, Oregon and Washington endured “30-year” storms (you know, those storms that newscasters start a broadcast saying, “This is the worst storm in thirty-something years!”) was nothing short of terrifying.

Moving Natalie into her new home was satisfying but leaving her at the airport to return home was wretched. Walking past the empty rooms at the house was miserable, but having Nicole close at hand is comforting, and getting Dan back home from training in Missouri was heart-warming.

Just that quickly they are grown up and gone. I always thought we’d have more time and I always thought that time would take longer to pass. I hope they will be happy. I miss them each and every day. I hope their new spouses will be kind, loving and good (like they appear to be.) I enjoy every text, phone call and visit.

Let me say for the record, they were lovable children and fascinating teens, but make no mistake; they leave home just as they are becoming truly interesting adults. Other than a few days when they were teens, I grew to love them more each and every day. I was blessed to watch them grow up. I was blessed to live with them for so long. I was blessed to see them become adults.

Now that they are grown and gone, I can also see how much I grew up with them – how they changed me into someone worthwhile. And so today, I love them for their patience with this transformed child they still call “Daddy.” They may never know just how they changed my life - and that it will never be the same.