Making Memories

Happy summer, Smart Living readers! I hope you had a great 4th of July.

For my family, the past few weeks have been a blur of swimming lessons, ice cream sundaes and frequent trips to the zoo. A personal highlight was seeing Taylor Swift in Chicago, which was honestly the greatest experience of my life. Full stop.

Summer is a time when my husband and I like to slow down and actually use those vacation days we diligently stored up during colder months. It’s also a time when I suddenly become a morning person, waking up extra early to read books for fun and drink coffee on the front porch. It’s a season that flies by way too fast, in my opinion.

In general, time is flying by so fast. When I stop to think about it, I realize my 6-yearold cousin who I nannied for a summer is now 16. She’s also almost taller than me, and I’m 5’10! We used to spend our days baking cupcakes for neighbors and watching “Jessie” and “Austin & Ally” on Disney Channel. Now, she tells me about her friend drama and comments heart-eye emojis on my Instagram posts.

Another girl who I used to babysit is now a fully-grown adult, working toward her Ph.D. She also just got engaged. I swear it was just yesterday when she was kicking my butt at a Sonic the Hedgehog video game.

My son, Elliot, is now RUNNING, which probably throws me the most. He was a little delayed with his gross motor skills, but now it’s obvious that I never had anything to worry about. He basically walked for a day and now he sprints everywhere. As a parent, it’s an exhausting relief.

The days are long, but I know there will come a time when I’ll wonder how it all went by so fast. All I can do is create more opportunities to make those happy memories with my family, and maybe, if I’m lucky, get tickets to see Taylor Swift again someday. (One can only dream).

I wish you a wonderful summer full of long days and happy memories made! ❚

Lindsey Lukas Senior Editor