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Rain Days, Mondays and School Days

September, 2007

By Trish Berg

Some memories will always remain. Like when I was eight years old and my mom came into my bedroom late one night with my sister in toe to tell me that she and my dad were getting a divorce.

I am not sure if it was raining that night or not, but it felt like a rainy night inside, all cold and damp and dark.

Then there are warmer memories.

When I became a mom for the first time and my baby looked into my eyes and grasped my finger in her tiny little hand. That memory feels all sunny and warm, bright and colorful.

I guess the sad memories feel like rainy days and Mondays all rolled into one. Like when I fell off my bike as a child, skinned both knees and elbows and had to walk all the way home alone crying all the while.

Or the time when my grandma died and I had to say goodbye to a friend I was just getting to know.

But I have been blessed with even more happy memories, sunny days that stay with me, too. The time when I won 2nd place in three separate community track events as a 5th grader and won the overall trophy for my age group. Or any time one of my children smiles at me and says “I love you, mom” for no reason at all.

Those are the best.

Then there’s the first day of school. Now there’s a thunderstorm in the making. Kind of a rainy day, Monday and sunny day all at once.

Though it can feel scary, it’s such an exciting time of new beginnings, new friendships, and new adventures.

This morning I sent off my three oldest children on their first day of school. And it was raining this morning, of all things.

I didn’t like sending them off in the storm like that, but what is a mom to do? I can’t protect them forever.

Hannah is entering the junior high for the first time, and as we waited on the bus she told me she was kind of scared. I knew exactly how she felt. Entering 6th grade is another one of those memories that remain.

I had nightmares the weeks leading up to that fateful day where I showed up to school wearing nothing at all, or got lost in the halls and couldn’t find my way around the new building.

But like most things in life, fearing it was so much worse than living it.

Rainy days are good for snuggling under old quilts, drinking hot tea and reading good books. Not the best time for new adventures.

But we all get wet sometime or another, so we might as well jump into the puddles and learn to live through the storms of life as best as we can.

As school begins this year, I feel the time slipping away faster and faster, and I am doing my best to hold onto all the great memories I can.

After all, if we didn’t weather the storms of life, we would never get to see the rainbows.

Trish would love to hear from you at www.trishberg.com, or e-mail trishberg @ trishberg.com.

© Trish Berg, 2006-
Trish Berg is author to The Great American Supper Swap, and Rattled - Surviving Your Baby's First Year without Losing Your Cool! She has been a guest ABC World News Tonight, Midday Connection, and The Harvest Show.
She is an internationally known speaker for ministries such as MOPS, Hearts at Home, and in Australia on Parenting Seminars Online. She has written for Today's Christian Woman, MOMSense, CBN.com and P31 WOMAN.
For more information, check out www.TrishBerg.com

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Rain Days, Mondays and School Days