Saturday, April 25, 2009

What Stu Did Instead ( Prom Saga No. 2)


Yesterday afternoon and evening was a memorable time for our Hillcrest Cottage which is soon to lose yet another permanent resident in 3 1/2 short months. The clock is ticking until #2 son Stuart leaves for college, so time spent together is becoming more precious.

Stuart is Leaving Soon for College
"I can't believe that you will be leaving soon," I lamented to Stuart. "I still haven't gotten over Clayton being gone." (Clayton is #1 son delivered by fam to West Point on June 30th last year.)
"Oh, Mom," was the typical reply of my awesome son who chose Senior Prom Not To Be.
It was the perfect spring night. The weather was fabulous, I was feeling lazy, and my husband sweetly volunteered to fire up the grill and get steaks at the grocery. This was all a true treat for this mom who had been working full-time all week at my very sporatic, very part-time job acting as a "fake patient" at the nearby university medical center training med students. (Whew...just writing that very long sentence made me tired.)

Steaks Were on the Grill
I sat lazily on the front porch as the smell of steaks grilling drifted up front. Stuart, who was friendless for the evening was very content to be at home with no distractions.
We ate our steaks by candlelight underneath a canopy of carolina jasmine. We sat together outside until almost 11:00.
Jeff said several times,"We need to savor this moment and take mental pictures of this. This time next year, Stuart won't be here."
Jeff called Clayton at West Point putting his I-Phone on speaker. For a few short minutes we were all together talking and laughing and making Clayton wish that he was home eating steaks with the fam.

Senior Prom Pics Arrive
This morning before I could even drink my coffee, the prom pics had already begun to appear on Facebook. Tonight Stuart is back in the groove, out with his friends listening to a local band and drinking coffee. Last night was a special family memory. I'm glad we decided to seize the moment.

What's a time recently when you 'seized the moment' and were so glad you did?

2 comments:

  1. I see you got through the weekend without the senior prom. Nicely done. Isn't it funny how things turn out, something you were bumming about turned out to be a great time and a precious memory.
    These boys... what they put us through!

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  2. A recent carpe diem moment?

    When I had lunch with your mom and my daddy last trip to LR. Your mom really needs to write a book!

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