So I Won't Forget...August 2024

3 things I want to remember from the past month

The blur of August is upon us.

It’s that time of year when the heat has reached unbearable status and our enthusiasm for things such as going to the pool is at an all time low. If I have to cycle our beach towels through the washer and dryer one more time, I might just hop in there myself. That was a bit dramatic, but in my defense, there are five of us and everyone is in their full-blown laundry era. No more baby socks at our house, only the sweaty, inside-out ones with the black marks on the bottom from running across the cul-de-sac twenty times a day.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

In reality I’m going to miss summer. We slept late, played outside with the neighbors, went to the pool/lake too many times, and ate popsicles basically every day. Our rosy cheeks bore that perfect crisp feeling of having spent all the energy we were meant to spend in a day. We were largely agenda-less and for the first time in my mothering career I found it all delightful. Kids have a magical way of embracing the day that reminds me of why God likens the ways of his Kingdom to the ways of little children. No sense of hurry, an innate desire to be in creation, and the wild expectation that all their needs will be met.

Now that school is officially underway at our house, I have found myself feeling that strange combination of excitement mixed with a bit of apprehension. Earlier mornings and the art of habit formation are ever before me and the way seems slightly uphill. Can we actually do this? Is this the best way? These are the questions I quietly toss around in my head while simultaneously projecting that motherly assurance my kids need to get out the door and into the world. The truth is it’s really not a matter of if we can actually do it—change our rhythms and form new habits—I know we can. It’s really about the transition. The cruel little place where you start to get super comfortable and then have to put forth a little effort. Can we do it without losing sight of the bigger picture? That’s really the question to be asking because experience and wisdom tell me that’s where the gold is. The gift of transition is slow growth and slow growth produces fruit. I just need my heart to catch up with what my head knows to be true…ideally by around Labor Day.

So I Won’t Forget #1…The Gift of Transitions

Speaking of August, who gets married in August? Crazy people like us, that’s who. Dustin reminds me every year that leading up to our wedding I declared that if the air conditioner was not working at the church then the wedding was off. I stand by that. Good news for us is that 14 years ago on the 21st day of August, the air conditioner was working and I pledged my life to Dustin Curzon. I stand by that too.

Photo by Dan Edwards on Unsplash

This weekend we escaped for an overnight date thanks to grandparents. Our favorite date night is a slow dinner at a local restaurant, one that includes drinks beforehand and Braum’s ice cream on the couch by 9PM. We spent the evening talking through the significant things that have happened in our lives over our years together and we made a list going year by year. Some standouts include the years pre-Covid (and pre-twins) when we averaged a trip to NYC every 6 months or the time we planted a church with our best friends or we bought our third house in our favorite cul-de-sac and remodeled it courtesy of Oklahoma weather and State Farm insurance.

The funny thing about making this kind of list is that year after year the items on the list don’t change. Every year when this date rolls around, we won’t discover something new that happened in previous years, we’ll just remember with more context. We’ll see with a teeny bit more clarity the beauty of two broken people coming together by the grace of God and building a life. In Colorado this summer we escaped to a Drew Holcomb show just the two of us. It was outside and the weather was the definition of ideal. (Maybe we should have gotten married in Colorado?) Anyway, Drew sang a song called “Gratitude” that captures rather beautifully the way I feel about our anniversary list.

Gratitude
Sometimes all you need is
Gratitude
Try and hold on to your hands in the garden
The smile of a child
Swimming in the river
Walking the last sweet mile
The first crack of thunder, the heavenly rain
All that gets taken
And all that remains

These things aren't a given
They're a gift to behold
Like the first sip of whiskey
And dancing real slow

Gratitude
Sometimes all you need is
Gratitude
Just try and hold on to
The city lights
Sunrise, long drives
Late nights, shady groves
The love we know
Isn't that what matters most?¹

Photo by Daniel Dvorský on Unsplash

So I Won’t Forget #2…14 Years of Gratitude

And finally…after almost three years of reading aloud…drumroll please…Dustin and our oldest daughter finished the entire Harry Potter series. It was precious to say the least. My confession is that I have actually never read the series completely. I’ve listened in over the last few years while folding laundry or unloading the dishwasher, but it’s largely been their thing. Somewhere around the Prisoner of Azkaban, I decided that I’ll catch up with the twins.

The gift of reading aloud with our kids is something I wholly underestimated when they were extra little. Or I just didn’t realize how sweet it was because we hadn’t grown out of things like The Very Hungry Caterpillar. No offense to Eric Carle, but there’s only so many times the butterfly at the end is a big reveal. I read a book called The Enchanted Hour: the Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction a few years back and it captured so perfectly the experience of journeying through a story together. It does something in us because, once again, stories matter. They shape us and help us make sense of the world. When I was a little girl my Dad and I read Charlotte’s Web aloud together, but we couldn’t make it through the chapter where Charlotte dies because we were both crying. My Mom had to step in and finish it for us. I’ll always remember it.

Photo by Rhamely on Unsplash

Ella has made bracelets, colored pictures, built with legos, and done all sorts of little things while her Dad has read this magical series to her over the years. There have been moments when the suspense of whatever was happening had her standing in a chair or hanging upside down off the couch. I know several HP spoilers thanks to her big reactions and Dustin’s laughter watching her experience them for the first time. When they finished the series on our back patio, I made them capture the moment with a picture. Their cheeks are pressed together and I marveled at how much they look alike when she isn’t wearing her glasses. The blue eyes version of her Dad’s dark brown ones. This is a moment, I thought, that I don’t want to forget.

Thanks for the memories, HP!

So I Won’t Forget #3…the complete Harry Potter series

In case you’re interested, here’s a list of several other books that we’ve read aloud together. Some have been just with our nine year old, some have been with our six year old twins. And I totally recommend picking up The Enchanted Hour, too!

Heartwood Hotel series, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, My Father’s Dragon series, Lighthouse Family series, The Willoughby’s, Ella Enchanted, The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, The Cricket in Times Square, The Trumpet of the Swan, Charlotte’s Web, Little House on the Prairie, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Fudge-a-Mania²

This time next week I’ll be sending you my conversation with Sabrina McDonald, an author and speaker on all things marriage and family. She shares her story of being widowed with young children and later grappling with the hard work of remarriage and blending families. I was so struck by her wisdom. Even if you don’t relate to her story directly, you will find yourself relating to the ways she talks about grief, hope, and love. Stay tuned!

Emily

1. You can find the song here.

2. I didn’t link them all for you, but you know how to find them :)