Yesterday I got to play mom. Last year, just days before Christmas, our neighbor, Becky, a 29-year-old mother of three passed away. Kurt has done an amazing job of single parenting this family. I knew that he was concerned about this school year because Maddy would be in afternoon kindergarten, which wouldn't work very well with his work schedule. I called a few weeks before school started to inquire if I could help out in any way. Kurt said that he had actually cut his work to half days so that he could be home with Maddy in the mornings and get her on the bus. I asked him to think of me as a resource should something come up. This week he came by to ask if I might be able to keep Maddy a few mornings so he could go in to work early and finish early enough to watch a couple of his son's cross country meets. And so it came to be that Maddy got to spend the morning with us yesterday.
At 11:30, Randy and I walked Maddy to the bus stop. It was a beautiful fall day (exactly the kind that make Fall my favorite season of the year in Chicago). Randy and I realized that it has been 23 years since we last put a kindergartner on the bus. A flood of memories washed over me, including a lump in my throat as the bus door closed and we stood there waving good-bye. Where have the years gone?
4 comments:
You are a very nice neighborly neighbor!
I'm glad you got to help your neighbor. What a cute little girl. It makes me think about Stefanie when Mom died. Although, Stef was a bit older. :)
I ran into Julie Lloyd at Costco today. It was so fun to reminisce a little. Naperville is a special place to me because of all the wonderful people there. Especially the Petersons.
You are a great Mom and Grandma to your kids and neighbors! Very Sweet!
Next time you get to play Mom to Maddy, feel free to bring her here! We have a kindergartener who would be happy to make a new friend.
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