This week has marked the end of life as I have known it for the past eleven years. We are no longer a homeschooling family. I can barely write those words without tears welling up in my eyes. It has been a great run. We are very thankful to have had the opportunity to watch our children grow and learn under our tutelage. (An amazing experience and one I would encourage others to embark upon.) While there are hundreds, literally hundreds, of people that we have shared this experience with, I don't want to exit without thanking and acknowledging the one person who literally I could not have done this without, my friend Lynne.
Lynne and I first met when we decided that we were going to form a preschool group for our children so that as we homeschooled through the years these children would be "school friends" and build a bond that would last forever. My boys were going on four that year and she had two boys of similar ages plus the lovely little pink baby, Rosemary. We met at OLOG and as we pulled into the parking lot, the boys said, "Mom, there is a van just like ours!" I said, "Great, we are already here!" It was Lynne. We had the same color and style of van and we laughed and hugged the first time we met. Through the preschool years we gathered other Catholic homeschoolers in our efforts, and we learned and laughed and played and prayed together as often as we could. We set goals for the group, incorporated our Catholic faith to make it seem alive for the children, celebrated births, birthdays, holidays, saints' feast days, Masses, and anything else we could think of celebrating. Most of all, we celebrated our children, our families, our faith, and our friendships together.
Because Lynne lives as far south of Indy as I do north, with that long stretch of Indy between us, as the years went by and the children all did more seatwork than playground and field trip fare, we now see less of each other. Making far more plans than we ever executed, we still know that a field trip or get together is just a phone call away and that for answers to just about any question, we are there for each other. You can't do much better than that.
So, Lynne, my dear friend, here's to all those play dates, field trips, nature classes, Bug Fests, kickball games, historical home tours, ICHSA events, volleyball games, swimming in our pool times, RCHEI conferences, curriculum discussion meetings, May Crownings, wild trips to and from Iowa with carsick children (and occasionally adults), chicken chasing extravaganzas, Kraft Mac N Cheese and Hot Dog lunches (forever it seemed like) with the kids, and the occasional times we could sit and chat without someone tugging on us to "Come and see, Mom...." It is just over way too soon. You were there in the beginning, and it is only right that you are my first huge goodbye...I did it this way because I knew we would both cry and you know, above all else, I do NOT do emotion well. Keep in touch...after all, I will have a little more time now for running down to the south side of Indy! Fare-Thee-Well, my friend to all our joint homeschooling adventures...my prayers always for your continued efforts and success in the homeschooling realm...it was a great run!