again

boat. After 20 years I realize he lets me verbalize what we are both thinking. I have accepted the role. I got home that evening and my daughter announced she was heading to a friend’s lake for the weekend. There we were, Dad and I…alone.

We started the weekend out with appetizers with friends and packed the rest with two breakfasts, three dinners, two on-demand movies, a take-out pizza, and 63 holes of golf. I did not count the cocktails! Maybe we were trying to stay busy; I’m not sure. We talked about work, possible trips, and of course our kids dominated most discussions. At the end of the weekend something funny happened. We realized we were fine. Maybe this change thing is going to be okay.

This week I started looking at the positive side of things. Way less laundry is among the best! But the house is clean; the boys’ beds are always made. We haven’t hit one of our own cars in the driveway for over two weeks [yes that did happen]. There hasn’t been one fight over the bathroom or what time to leave for school. We are juggling one school and athletic schedule and a Schwan's-man meal can feed our entire family; easy cooking for Mom. The added bonus turns out hubby is a pretty fun to hang out with and good at talking me down when needed. I knew there was a reason I married that guy.

The future is a funny thing, especially when what has always been your future appears to be happening. I feel my future has arrived and it’s time to create a new one. I have decided to embrace it with a new normal. Start looking ahead again and dreaming of what our family life will be like in another 5, 10, 15 years. So after a short hiatus I am back to loving fall. It’s odd that flowers are wilting and leaves are falling but I feel renewed in the sense that things are beginning. A new school year, strict schedules, volleyball games, lots of family texts, and fall sweaters all make me happy…again!

Raised in Finley, ND, Deb has called Moorhead her home for the last 11 years. A graduate from Drake University in Des Moines, IA, with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications, she is currently Communications Director for Wanzek Construction. Deb welcomes the pleasant distraction that writing brings and thanks her children Jake [19], Tony [18], Nick [18] and Emily [16] for inspiration. Deb and her husband Tim like to spend their free time running in several directions with kids and on the golf course.