Your letter today made me breathe a little deeper. It’s nice not to feel alone in aging, Jenna. Thank you for the reminder that starting over—which we seem to do every day these days—can be as wondrous as seeing stars for the first time.
Re: the shoes/no shoes inside - my best friend lives in Woodside. They are no shoes household and they also have an indoor cat. A couple of years ago the cat got GIARDIA from licking their shoes. I can't imagine what else is lurking on the soles of those shoes.
P.S. The cat was OK after some strong antibiotics.
As someone a little closer to your kid's life stage but old enough to be feeling some of the weight of aging, I appreciate these reflections so much. Just about every one of my new "adult" experiences has carried some bittersweetness for me as I wonder/worry about what this stage feels like for my mom. I love how you are finding spaciousness in your grief and seeking wonder in new beginnings.
I love hearing this perspective, Mila. And you are much more mature than I was! I don't think I wondered about my parents in the same way. Maybe I was too self-absorbed to think about how any of my actions affected them. It really wasn't until I had kids that I started to understand and empathize with how hard to must have been for them. Or maybe this is a generational or cultural thing, I don't know, but I'm definitely more open about my feelings than my mom was.
No meh about the art for me - I ‘felt’ this piece before I saw all the details, and this is something I feel like I achieved with photography only once. The softness of the hair is brilliant. This isn’t a piece that you just look at, the texture jumps out and you can feel it. Love it
Thank you, Melissa. I rarely get comments about the drawings I post every week — which is totally fine as it’s more for accountability sake on my part — so I appreciate this comment.
My own daughter seems to be growing up at the speed of sound right now, I’m noticing the gap getting wider in some places as she grows and reaches for her independence - it’s bittersweet. I really enjoyed your post, it made me feel less alone with the inevitable life changes and feelings that come with them xx
I’m glad. This is a collective experience that those of us who are parents are feeling right now, though I would think that anyone can relate to that feeling of loss when youth escapes us. Aging is hard any way you look at it.
It is, isn’t it? And nothing prepares you for it, it’s not something many people seem to talk about until it happens so I’m grateful for you opening a conversation about it. Enjoy your day xx
My parents never had much money and circumstances were such that I never traveled when I was younger. I envied friends who were able to go off to college in other cities, but I made do. I've traveled as an adult and while it's still usually a good experience, I do wonder how things may have been different had I been able to do so more in my 20s.
However, getting to witness a star-filled night somewhere without much light pollution is always amazing. The strangeness of seeing a different night sky than I'm used to in the southern hemisphere or in a place across the ocean is pretty astounding.
Our family growing up didn’t travel much either, Tim, probably why I took off every chance I could get when I left home, but I never did a semester abroad like my kid is doing now. She seems to be having a blast. I’ve been thinking a lot about this. For some reason I feel like I’m suddenly feeling the edges of the travel window. Sounds ominous, I know, but this month really turned my head around.
We didn’t really travel much when I was a kid either, and it’s something I value so much as an adult. I have so many places that I want to visit and hope that I have time/means to do it.
Your letter today made me breathe a little deeper. It’s nice not to feel alone in aging, Jenna. Thank you for the reminder that starting over—which we seem to do every day these days—can be as wondrous as seeing stars for the first time.
It does seem like we are starting over more often than we used to. This is the norm, isn't it? It's exhausting.
Re: the shoes/no shoes inside - my best friend lives in Woodside. They are no shoes household and they also have an indoor cat. A couple of years ago the cat got GIARDIA from licking their shoes. I can't imagine what else is lurking on the soles of those shoes.
P.S. The cat was OK after some strong antibiotics.
Ok, new cat fear unlocked. Cats always love to sniff around shoes.
As someone a little closer to your kid's life stage but old enough to be feeling some of the weight of aging, I appreciate these reflections so much. Just about every one of my new "adult" experiences has carried some bittersweetness for me as I wonder/worry about what this stage feels like for my mom. I love how you are finding spaciousness in your grief and seeking wonder in new beginnings.
I love hearing this perspective, Mila. And you are much more mature than I was! I don't think I wondered about my parents in the same way. Maybe I was too self-absorbed to think about how any of my actions affected them. It really wasn't until I had kids that I started to understand and empathize with how hard to must have been for them. Or maybe this is a generational or cultural thing, I don't know, but I'm definitely more open about my feelings than my mom was.
I had a similar feeling recently when I was driving with the windows down and listening to music — really mourning that “lightness of youth”
Something about listening to music while driving brings back so many feels!!
I’ve been feeling that a lot lately with music too. Thinking back to times and people who are no longer in my life.
Same. I don’t know why I’m so introspective lately!
No meh about the art for me - I ‘felt’ this piece before I saw all the details, and this is something I feel like I achieved with photography only once. The softness of the hair is brilliant. This isn’t a piece that you just look at, the texture jumps out and you can feel it. Love it
Thank you, Melissa. I rarely get comments about the drawings I post every week — which is totally fine as it’s more for accountability sake on my part — so I appreciate this comment.
My own daughter seems to be growing up at the speed of sound right now, I’m noticing the gap getting wider in some places as she grows and reaches for her independence - it’s bittersweet. I really enjoyed your post, it made me feel less alone with the inevitable life changes and feelings that come with them xx
I’m glad. This is a collective experience that those of us who are parents are feeling right now, though I would think that anyone can relate to that feeling of loss when youth escapes us. Aging is hard any way you look at it.
It is, isn’t it? And nothing prepares you for it, it’s not something many people seem to talk about until it happens so I’m grateful for you opening a conversation about it. Enjoy your day xx
❤️
My parents never had much money and circumstances were such that I never traveled when I was younger. I envied friends who were able to go off to college in other cities, but I made do. I've traveled as an adult and while it's still usually a good experience, I do wonder how things may have been different had I been able to do so more in my 20s.
However, getting to witness a star-filled night somewhere without much light pollution is always amazing. The strangeness of seeing a different night sky than I'm used to in the southern hemisphere or in a place across the ocean is pretty astounding.
Our family growing up didn’t travel much either, Tim, probably why I took off every chance I could get when I left home, but I never did a semester abroad like my kid is doing now. She seems to be having a blast. I’ve been thinking a lot about this. For some reason I feel like I’m suddenly feeling the edges of the travel window. Sounds ominous, I know, but this month really turned my head around.
We didn’t really travel much when I was a kid either, and it’s something I value so much as an adult. I have so many places that I want to visit and hope that I have time/means to do it.
Yeah, been having a lot of thoughts about this. Will probably be a future newsletter 😅