Endings and Beginnings

Endings: The last day of school is always a little sad for me, even when I'm not the one in school. I went to the awards assembly at Daniel's school today (he got to stand up and be recognized for perfect attendance all year and it was the second year in a row for that accomplishment, not that they recognized that, but thought you'd like to know). Daniel has finished the seventh grade, and in my opinion, is now an eighth grader (he says he won't be in 8th grade the first day of school in August). I can't believe he's already gone through three years of middle school. I don't think it would be good idea for me to think about what we'll be doing five years from now when it's a big ending! Yikes!

It's also (almost) the end of a busy week/month at work, and I'm NOT sad about that! Twice a year we have these insane rush times of getting insurance policies pushed through to finish up the year ("Awards Year" in May, Calendar/Fiscal Year in December). Unfortunately, my company didn't think about how extremely busy the months of May and December are for people who have things to do other than their job, so it makes life really challenging and (un)fun. But, it's almost over. At 2:00 tomorrow, when the office closes early for the long holiday weekend, I plan to not be there much longer.

Sadly, there's a well-known family who is grieving and mourning the way-too-early end (in human terms) to their daughter's life. The family of Steven Curtis Chapman lost their youngest daughter in a tragic accident yesterday and ever since I read about it, I have been praying for them. I encourage you to pray also for this family and for the sorrow they are experiencing that I can't even imagine.


Beginnings: To me, Memorial Day weekend is the start of SUMMER! I can't wait to get on the airplane tomorrow night to fly to FL to visit my friends and spend the weekend relaxing with them. I think that is a good way to start the summer. I hope you all have a good start to the summer, too, whether you're doing a yard sale, doing yard work, relaxing by a pool, or whatever you find to do.

I think the ratio of endings to beginnings is a little off here, but right now, I really should not be sitting at the computer. I need to go to bed and get some rest, but I can't usually sleep before I go on a trip. Like the little boy in the Disney World commercial says, "I'm too excited to sleep!"