Puzzled

You know those moments that hit you hard with an emotion but seem to be silly at the time? Well I had one of those moments today. I always think of my life as a jigsaw puzzle..one of those huge ones that takes years and years to complete (hopefully LOTS of years). The outside pieces are the ones that are easy to piece together and represent the monumental moments in our lives that we know are bound to make things change. Things like weddings, births and deaths make up the frame part. The inner part is made up of those little moments that evoke a huge amount of emotion and definitely make an impression in your mind but you just aren't sure where they will fit into your life puzzle when they happen. Sometimes it takes months or years before you can figure out precisely where those inside pieces fit and what they represent. Today I was talking to Amelia before I took her to school. She was asking how many days of school she had left and I told her six. When I dropped her off she ran out with a group of friends with a big smile, talking and giggling and hardly looked back at me. In that instant it flashed before me that she does only have SIX days of preschool left. She will ride the big bus next year and go to the big school next year. No more mac and cheese and Sesame Street at lunch time and no more babies for me. I am not one to cry, ask anyone who even half way knows me, but this morning I did shed a few tears as I drove out of the school lot. I thought about how this snapshot of Amelia will fit into my puzzle. What will change for me in the fall when all three of my girls are in school? More importantly will those changes effect the rest of my life and what will my puzzle look like when it is complete.