September

Goodness, it’s heading into the evening hours and already as I sit down at the laptop to write, I’m a day late doing so. Not that I “have” to be on a legalistic schedule, but when I decided to make a weekly blog entry, I contacted a friend who agreed to hold me accountable. Our agreement was that I chose Tuesday to be my day to write. For the most part I’ve been able to keep to the agreement, yet this week I have obviously slipped into Wednesday. What threw me off? While I’d say I’m my own worst enemy at self sabotage I truly don’t have an excuse. Looking back on the start of the week, I can see where a variety of activities may have thrown me off kilter. But, truth be told? I’m not sweating the small stuff that caused me to wait until today to write. Furthermore, if I’m being totally honest a major factor to my delay is simply this….I don’t know what to write about this week! But, wait! I headlined today’s entry as September. There must be a reason and truly, without huge fanfare, this ninth month of our calendar year holds  fond memories.

When I typed the word “September” at the top, a faint memory from a conversation with my mother popped into my mind. Mom told me that when September rolled around and we kids returned to school she experienced a couple weeks of sadness and loneliness. You see, my mom was a stay at home kind of gal. She prided herself on keeping a clean home, preparing delicious meals seven days a week, three times a day, and when the long hot days of summer ushered us back to classrooms she missed us. I’m not sure she missed baseball gloves, shoes, and toys being strewn about the yard and house, or my brother Mark’s bike laying in parts on the driveway as he “investigated” how things work….or settling arguments between quarrelsome playmates. Looking back I know she enjoyed quiet, accompanied with a cup of hot tea–sometimes with a splash of red wine in it–and a cookie or two. In her bittersweet moments, the quiet created by a new school year made her lonely until we all settled into the September through June routine. Maybe her quiet days were a preparation for the ultimate reality of becoming an empty nester in the future as we three each took our turn leaving our home. I truly don’t know all of her secret thoughts, but I’m happy to know she missed us when school started. I can close my eyes and imagine her seated in the living room–everything finished until time to start dinner–waiting and listening for the back door to open as each one of us got home after school.

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September is special for another reason. It holds the birthdate of our oldest child. We were blessed with her when I was 29. After about 10 hours of labor she made her entrance at 3:50 pm on a Thursday. Sarah was the first grandchild for my in-laws, number six for my folks. During evening visiting hours that evening, the four parents stood outside the nursery windows gazing at her lil face, body swaddled in a blanket, tucked in her small bassinet. Telling about the separation between grandmothers that the glass created, was one of my father-in-law’s favorites stories to tell, the agony of these two women anxious to get their hands on that new baby! My, how things have changed regarding visiting new moms and babies now. Visitors are allowed in the room while a woman is in labor. We can visit after the birth and hold a newborn within hours of being washed up and gathering of stats is completed. 

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I’m sure if I were to think long and hard I could come up with other reasons I’m thinking of September….changes in temperatures….gardens drying up as harvest times come to an end…pumpkin this and pumpkin that advertised on billboards….school supplies disappearing from stores shelves…thoughts of apples, cider and donuts at a local mill….football games under lights….and quiet homes where children have returned to noisy classrooms and playgrounds, all while mom is now either at work or home, and maybe, just maybe enjoying a cup of hot tea…with a splash of red wine in it, hopefully with a cookie or two.