Bethany Lee

As I watch Adrian’s pencil continue across the page, I’m thinking about the messiness of learning in this period of his life.

Will we ever return to a time when mending, reusing or not buying in the first place is the norm?

Having a friend over, the excitement and anxiety of sharing your space, was such a thrill.

How did I find myself here, again in the middle of boxes?

What was your first job?

When my mom asked me to bring dessert for a recent family celebration, I panicked.

How did a decade and a third slip by so quickly? My mom had been right: “Long days, short years.”

As daylight fills the evenings, it’s time to think about our camping plans for the summer. Pretty much every summer since my son Adrian could walk and talk, there has been a trip or two “up north” to do some tent camping.

The Good, the Bad — and the Ugly.

His face was green and his pupils were dilated.

The lights and lasers came on, igniting our optic nerves and setting our brains on fire.

Not kidding. When I was young I got my haircuts when the horses’ manes and tails were getting clipped.

How I imported the Danish love of hygge – doubling down inside with hot drinks, slow­ cooked food, knitted blankets and other cozy touches – into my life this winter.

How this mom learned to love watching her son skateboard.

We did a lot of nothing. We also did everything. Long days quickly added up to two short months.

Pretty much everybody referred to Jeff as Uncle Buck

I waited for a few minutes at the back, the smells and sounds so familiar, so similar to my own first dance. I can remember it clearly.

We were no longer home and the space sometimes felt like just that – a space.