Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Four Seasons

For this week’s prompt, write about a season of change for your character or you. It can be literal or metaphorical.


We sat at the table, me with a glass of moscato and him with a bottle of beer. We didn't eat dinner. We didn't watch a movie. We sat across the table from each other and said very little...and drank. Not our usual reaction to life's crises.

Twenty-two years of our lives together were changing that day. All in one day. In one, rip-it-off-quick-so-it-won't-hurt-as-much moment in that one day. A season, began when our oldest was born, was ending. Our baby left for college.

We cried. We talked about what wonderful kids we had. We cried some more. Drank some more. Then we looked at each other, silently considering the same question: Now what?

The answers floated around us like autumn leaves swirling in the breeze.

Less cooking.
Less laundry.
Less laughing.
Done with high school.
Our youngest son's wit and fun, out of the house and far away.
An extra parking space.
The loud sound of silence, where video games and the beat of music used to echo.
Half-empty grocery carts.
An empty bedroom.
A half-empty house.
Learning how to worry long-distance.
No way to check up.
Don't know his teachers.
No need to leave the porch light on when we went to bed.
We could walk around the house naked.
Learning how to refocus our attention.
Sex in any room, at any time of day.

Just us again. Like it was in the beginning. But now we know each other better. Now we love each other more. Now we know how to live together. We just have to learn how to live alone together again.

The third season of our life.

Always, feel free to comment! Trish in AZ

9 comments:

  1. I can imagine how my parents must have when I left home a few years ago.. it's wonderful that you have such a lovely family. Reading this makes me want to taste the different flavors of life which is to yet to come.

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  2. The bitter and the sweet of an "empty nest". You captured it so well here. I love this line-
    "The answers floated around us like autumn leaves swirling in the breeze." Perfection!

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  3. You did capture the emotions very well here. There are positives & negatives in each thing on the list. Very nice.

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  4. This makes me want to hug my mom and dad. I remember when I first moved out (I'm the baby) and how my mom seemed to struggle with the transition. Now, nearly five years later, her and my dad are going strong and about to retire...to start another season of life.

    Beautifully written! Stopping by and following from WOE.

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  5. And you, too, have captured this stage so billiantly. All new, as if in the beginning. Yet, differnet. Shanda @ www.shandaoakleyinspires.com

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  6. Oh, this. You so captured change, and my mothering heart, and a slice of the future. *Sigh*

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  7. I love the ebb and flow of the list, in and out of melancholy and ending on a good note.

    We're still in the early days second phase, sending our 4 year old to pre-school, but I still remember leaving home, leaving my parents behind, and what I thought that meant to them.

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  8. The only time I ever saw my dad cry was when he drove out of my college dorm's parking lot.

    Such hard stuff. Your list got me a bit teary, as the years fast-forwarded and I imagined myself in your shoes.

    And my oldest is a kindergartner. Doesn't matter. It's still happening too soon.

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