⌛️ Life’s Timestamps ⌛️

🌅 In Between Sunsets 🌅

❤️ Some weeks feel like they hold an entire lifetime.

Every glance, every laugh, every small ritual suddenly feels like it’s glowing..and if time itself is leaning in, grabbing you by the heart and whispering, “Pay attention. you’re going to want to remember this.”

This week has been one of those.

It began with the moment i’d been bracing for, yet still wasn’t full ready to hold: my youngest daughter’s last first day of school.

The early alarm that shook me out of my sleep and reminded me sharply, it’s here. The sweet look she gave me when she came downstairs and asked, “Do I look pretty?” (baby girl, you’re stunning). We took her last first day of school picture and slipped into our familiar backroad rhythm..the one we’ve driven year after year. We took note of the sunrise, letting it paint our day before it even began. We sent heart-kisses to the farm animals. Fleetwood Mac and Steve Miller Band wrapped the air around us like an old friend. And as always, before she stepped out, she blew me three kisses, turning to make sure I as watching. I always am. ❤️

And then this morning, the Senior Sunrise 🌅. She stood with her friends, watching light spill over the edge of the world, as if the day itself knew it was beginning something sacred. The horizon held not just the dawn, but the quiet truth that this entire year will be a collection of first lasts. The last game under Friday night lights. The final class picture. The last time she would walk those halls. The last time her backpack sits by the door before her life opens into something new.

These are life’s timestamps..not just dates on a calendar, but coordinates to where love and time meet. Some you anticipate, holding your breath until they arrive. Others catch you mid-step, etching themselves into your heart before you even realise they’re happening.

And so this year, I am keeping my heart wide open. I will gather them all..

💨 The autumn backroad drives with crisp air and orange leaves dancing past the windows.

💨 The late night talks in the kitchen when the house is quiet

💨 The silly inside jokes no one else would understand

💨 Every single “I love you” tossed over her shoulder like a blessing

I know I can’t stop time..but I can hold it. I can let it change me. I can paint it in words and pictures and in the quiet of knowing that love has been here, still is and will follow her wherever she goes.

This week reminded me that love is not only in the grand beginnings or the bittersweet goodbyes. It’s in the slow drives with the music in the background, us singing with all the windows down. It’s in the way she looks back to find me. It’s in the space between sunrise and sunset where we’ve built our life.

So here’s to this year….a year full of first lasts and to loving each one fiercely enough that they live in me long after the days themselves are gone.

Here’s to my daughter and all of our yesterdays, todays, and future days. ❤️

✨ Cheers to you babygirl and one of our favorite songs. Home will always be waiting for you ✨