Hi there! Prepared this ahead of time as this week with luck,  my son and  daughter in law  will welcome our first grandchild into the world! I started this a few weeks ago and recently finished it up. I had mentioned I will be doing some expressive/creative writing posts, where I will share my thoughts of whatever is on my mind, so here is one. Kind of long but hope you enjoy it.

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 I don’t know if or how many of you can relate to what I’m about to write about but for me it’s very real and I am just amazed at the various emotions going into a simple store can stir up.

Every time I walk into Target,  there is this overwhelming wave of nostalgia that sweeps over me. When I pass particular aisles, certain memories are triggered. All very happy ones. Allow me to explain, I was in Target last week  to pick up some odds and ends, to kill time while my phone was being repaired down the road.  So there  I am,  scrolling through the enormous store  at a much more leisurely paced than I typically do with the excess time I have to kill. I cannot even explain to you what going through the toy aisle did to me, as I was looking for a birthday gift to my one friend who still has a young child.

I was immediately transported to my youngest son being around seven who would often accompany me if I needed to go to pick up cleaning supplies or  any of the other random things that one gets at Target. He would spend what felt like hours,  perusing the aisles, looking carefully and discriminately,  for that special “under a certain amount” prize that I had promised him. It was truly a joyful and  innocent time.  The excitement and anticipation he exuded didn’t fully register at that time, but looking back now….it was so innocent and precious. Those little things could make his day!

I also once remember seeing that they kept adult diapers and other items related to senior care on an aisle, just one over from baby items and you want talk about a paradox!! I noticed this when my mom was in the advance stages of Alzheimer’s.  The heap  of raw emotion that you feel in walking down one aisle versus the other is hard to put into words,  I guess the most succinct way to put it is one represents the beginning of life and one represents the final chapters. I remember once I walked in and I was so so sad and feeling so overwhelmed that I was downright angry that they did that,  I found it so insensitive,  while I’m sure Target probably never considered the emotions that it could potentially create.  I thought about writing a letter to them to let them know at least from my own personal experience, never did but perhaps still will.

So this brings me back to last week, I spent a lot of time there that late afternoon,  a much longer trip than I normally would have had in Target. The store was bustling when I first walked in. I was met right away with an onslaught of back to school and back to college displays,  to make sure every parent with a child heading off to school or college did not miss. An instant pang of nostalgia hit my heart. I was right away brought back to when my youngest was heading off to college and we made that pilgrimage (many more than one) to the temple of back to school items, Target (and Bed, Bath and Beyond, when they were still around).

An  immediate rush of emotions came over me very quickly, and I couldn’t help but reflect on those happy times. After about an hour going through the store with a very full shopping cart,  I was in one of those long lines, longer than usual (no doubt because of back to school/college). Sandwiched in front of me was a mother with  three adorable little kids all under what looked to be nine years old, they had each picked something out and were excitedly talking about the frozen ice pops that they would put in the freezer when they got home and one of the inflatable devices that they had purchased, I assume to go swimming with. I literally found myself getting teary-eyed if you can believe it just watching those sweet little innocent children and their seemingly oblivion to the chaos of our world. All they knew was that ice pops and something fun for the pool was within their reach. Ahhh, life is good!

Then talk about a paradox,  behind me was a mother and her teenage daughter who clearly had shopped for college supplies. I overheard their conversation as the daughter excitedly talked about meeting her new roommate in a few days  and the mother reviewing what sounded like a very long list of things still yet to be done. Again, my heart started beating faster at the thought of those memories that my sons and I had while we went through the often frantic but incredibly exciting, college shopping days. I remember days spent going out and about together,  a time that that they  would give up seeing friends for because we had a mission to accomplish. We would normally stop off somewhere fun for lunch and then continue on with our mission, they may not have admitted it, but I have a feeling  they enjoyed that time together every bit as  much as I did. Those were, what I didn’t necessarily recognize at that time,  special bonding moments before they were due to flee the nest.

The mother behind me made a casual comment about something in my cart,  and we struck up a  conversation which initially was about complaining how long the line was and then shifted to discussing her daughter going off to college.  I could just see the joy and excitement in both their eyes.  It was palpable. I spoke of my experiences and gave the advice (like most do) to enjoy this time, it goes by in with the blink of an eye (and does it ever!)

So here I stood sandwiched, alone, between two symbolic chapters of my life that have passed. It is hard to explain, but it literally made me very emotional. When I got into my car. I surprised myself, and started crying. It really admittedly, caught me off guard. All I had were a bunch of cleaning supplies, computer paper, a few toiletries and some other odds and ends. I couldn’t believe both those chapters of my life were ever, where did time go! I want to push a pause button!

Wiping my tears, I then  looked over into one of the bags on the passenger seat and I saw a little glimmer of something that represents the new chapter in my life….. a small batch of baby products for my soon to be born grandson. I then cried a few more tears, but  happy tears this time, because I realized while those chapters have closed,  a brand new one is about to open  and what a chapter it will be!

So the bottom line is,  if you are a mom of young ones, it goes by fast. Really fast. Take advantage of every precious moment. Take way too many pictures/videos, you will never ever regret it! You are creating memories that will make your heart smile forever and ever.

If you are the mom of kids going off to college, you have done a great job. They are doing exactly what they are supposed to do, so pat yourself on the back, they are ready to flee the nest and soar. It’s time for you. They are about to have the time of their lives, be proud that you raised them to get there.

And if you are like me, and in that “sandwich stage”, many say, this  the best  to come yet, we have the experience and expertise under our belts, the confidence and wisdom but then we have some freedom too (that was hard earned). I am not going to cry because those stages are over, I am going to smile widely that they happened and were some of the best years of my life. And they still are! Bring on the grandchildren:)

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Thanks for stopping by, wishing everyone a fabulous day and smooth end to your week. Until next time………….