One Word Photo Challenge: Winter
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Night time cherry tree – Massachusetts
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Ice flow off the mountain – Vermont
Blue spruce – Vermont
Turkey gathering – Vermont
Turkey tree – Vermont
Late afternoon snowfall – Vermont
Rare snow event – Virginia
Ice fishing – Vermont
Lake Willoughby – Vermont
Frozen berries – Massachusetts
The final descent – Vermont
King of the Mountain – Alaska
I guess you could say I love winter and I’m glad it’s almost here
Cheers 🙂
By dinner time tomorrow, our soggy, box-full, furniture-empty, house will feel like home despite it all.
He leaves the deep freeze on the shores of the Arctic Ocean tonight and will arrive on the unusually frozen southern shores of the Atlantic tomorrow. Knowing he had not planned on bringing his arctic gear, an emergency phone call took care of that. True winter in the lower 48 awaits his arrival. He doesn’t mind though, winter is kind of his thing…
We’ve not seen him for over a year, Christmas 2012 to be exact. So much has happened in his life and ours since then, I’m not sure his two weeks will be enough time to sort it all out. And sort it out we must, for as much excitement as there is in his return, it wears the shroud of sadness that only a broken heart wears.
You see, he fell in love with a dog, who owned the girl, that stole our son’s heart…
He chose the ring for the knot that means a great deal to her and announced to the world “SHE SAID YES!” on July 20th…
She chose the dress in the color that says “I am not afraid as I face the world with the man I love”
They chose the date, Friday, February 13, 2015, to tell the world “We have no fear of your superstitions, we’ll face it together”
They spent every spare moment they had together, traveling the land they both love so much…
One of the hardest things to witness is the breaking of your child’s heart. Whether 2 or 25, the heart cares not the why or the how, only that it’s a pain unlike any other.
The life plan has changed. The love won, now lost. “She said yes!” echoes hollowly in the darkness following “I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want to be with anyone”
As his mother, I grieve for his tender heart and shattered dreams.
As his mother I silently thank the girl for knowing this truth now and being brave enough to say so.
As his mother, I weep for and with him, longing to make it better, but knowing I can offer nothing but a safe place for him to cry.
So, it’s time for this boy, this man, our Matthew, to come home to slide into the open arms of his Dad and me; the only place he can let it all go.
The place where the man can again be the boy who needs what only his family can give him…a safe place to grieve, a hearth to warm the bone deep chill of lost love, and the touch of those that know the truest nature of him…love. He shines with it and has since he was born.
He will find The One.
Someday.
One who will see him for who he is, and love him completely for it.
We know this.
He will too.
One Day.
Until then, we’ll do what we have always done…love him, guide him beyond his feeling foolish for having loved “too much”. With the gentlest of reminders that no love is ever foolish or ever wasted or ever “too much”. That to deny the best part of himself for fear of being hurt this way again, would be to deny the very air he breathes.
He won’t. He can’t. It’s not in him.
As his mother, this I know.
Welcome Home Matthew…where the heart is
Five & Twenty years today
What seems like only yesterday
You made our family whole that day
Second born & second son
But unique you are, second to none
You favor both your Dad and Me
Your brother? Lord, you two are like peas
Gramp? Ha, have you seen your ears?
With lobes like that you could fly, I fear
Your nose though, even I must admit
Raised an eyebrow or two (whose nose is it?)
Not Dad’s, nor mine, and not your brother’s
Not Father’s Grand nor Grand Mother’s
But we’ll leave the nose, we’ll just call it yours
‘Cause it fits that face we so adore
To celebrate this special day at hand
Our babe, our boy, our teen, our young man
You’ve made our lives rich with love and laughter
We share your hopes, the dreams you’re after
You were just a boy when you left and began
The next leg of your journey toward becoming a man
But you found your life, your love – your way
Thousands and thousands of miles away
It’s never easy to watch your kids go
When you are a father, this too you will know
But we couldn’t be more proud of you, our dear son
For the courage you’ve shown, the battles you’ve won
You’ve proven your mettle, your strength, your grit
You did it alone (mostly?) (a bit?)
As you keep moving forward, new challenges will come
But our faith in you grows with each passing sun
Though, an old soul you have, there is plenty of time
To live for the moment, those moments sublime
We know you do and you always will
Without taking for granted the glorious thrill
That life has to offer to you who are willing
To live what they feel, and feel life fulfilling
Promises? Never. You’ll learn as you go
That heartache and pain are a part of the show
Our best wish for you is to live ‘no regrets’
The more fully lived, the better life gets
We know the depths of compassion you hold
Your empathy, compassion, and emotions are bold
This day of your birth, this twenty and five
Is as miraculous now as the day you arrived
We love you dear Matthew, with all that we’ve got
(Your present’s in the mail…oops…I forgot)
Sorry honey
Didn’t anyone ever tell you?
25 is the Poetry year
We Love you 😉
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