The background blurs as the boys run playfully by …. years ago …. life is a blur as the years fly …..

These boys are now teens — one in college and the other a high school junior off to college visits later this week.  And yet, on some days memories like this snowy October day at the cabin over 8 years ago seems like yesterday.  I would love to be able to say I have treasured every moment, lived mindfully each day along the way … but I haven’t.  And that’s OK.  Life is an imperfect journey, and we sometimes just do the best we can on any given day.

Doing the best we can is all we can ask.  That means on some days we yell at our kids, are short-tempered with our spouse, don’t make time for a friend, and regrettably, sometimes learn there is no “next time” to make it up to them.  Reminders of the fragility of life come more frequently as we age, but I think as we mature we also learn to appreciate the moments that make up life that much more.

We recognize that the blur of life when slowed and viewed frame-by-frame is not only the major milestones of life — the births, the weddings, the deaths, the celebrations in between — but more than anything, it’s the walk with the dog on a quiet wooded trail; it’s watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “A Christmas Story” every holiday as a family even though we’ve all seen them countless times; it’s banter and debate that grows more interesting over the years as the boys grow up, prompted by programs on Minnesota Public Radio as we drive those couple hours to the cabin and back again; it’s the long talks over a meal about dreams, and hopes, and goals …. it’s the blur of life.

Ciao! ~ Kat

This post was in response to the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge.  ”Blur” was this week’s theme.  Everyone is welcome to join in the Challenge; further details on how to participate and links to others’ responses are found here.