My 5 AM alarm clock just went off. Potatoe and I have both been awake for more than hour. The morning is anything but quiet. A frog or cricket chirps outside the window as if competing with the sound of the fountain in Trooper’s new water bowl. The heat wave continues, which keeps the noise of the air conditioner running almost non-stop, and the dishwasher is chugging away.
I often sit and listen the sounds around me in the mornings. As our lives evolve, so do the sounds we hear. I remember when the first sounds of my morning were of a baby crying. I remember how quickly we evolved from morning cries to, “Mommy, it is time to wake now.” Then we evolved into no human sounds waking me as the humans (otherwise known as teenagers) want to stay up as late as they can and then sleep as late as they can.
Of all of the sounds that have awaken me in my life, there is just one that I miss. Pumpkine would some how manage to go from snuggling right next to me to the sliding glass door in my bedroom without waking me. I would then wake to the sound of the pitter patter of her little paws against the glass telling me to let her outside for her morning time. I would let her out, and then Potatoe and I would snuggle until we fell back asleep, and then we would wake to the pitter patter of Pumpkine’s little paws telling us it was time to let her back in for breakfast. I loved the sound of that pitter patter.
Now, I awake to the sound of my alarm, or whatever sound wakes me without the sound continuing long enough for me to realize what I woke to. As I reminisce of the long past days of the boys waking me up, I do not feel sad. I do not miss the days when the boys were younger. It is not that they were not amazing days; it is that I know that each time a chapter of their lives ends another begins, and I embrace the excitement of the new beginnings.
Today, marks a day of new beginnings as Brainy Bird and I start our journey to South Carolina. We went from being a family of four fur kids and two human kids to a family of two fur kids and one human kid in too short of time. I do feel sad as I miss the pitter patter, and the sadness will not go away anytime soon, but my heart is happy for my son as this is without a doubt the most exciting chapter of his life so far.
I am going to just cry for a moment more, and then I am going to embrace all that makes me so incredibly happy in life, and off we go!