Two Of My Favorite Fruits

Gardening is often times used as a metaphor for the seasons of life. As parents, we plant seeds for the future within the youth of our children. Seeds that will prepare them for the long winters to come. Seeds of good humor. Seeds of good  manners. Seeds of respect. Of reverence. Of responsibility. Of the importance of math and of science. Of good taste in music. We teach them to love and nurture and feed these seeds with the one single hope that they themselves will feast from their fruits and then plant the same seeds within their children. It's a simple yet often taken for granted plan: plant, nurture, feast, repeat.

Nine years ago today, I was rewarded with two incredibly awesome 'fruits' of my own. They arrived at  Schiewe's Urban Homestead big and fiery! Wide-eyed and fueled by caffeine, our life, as we knew it, accelerated overnight. In the middle of this whirlwind, some big changes were going on. From small milestones to big scares, from first steps to first words, from first hikes to first tracks, from part-time to half-day to full-days at school, our children were growing up right before our eyes. And now, at the end of each day, when the dust finally settles, we realize that we have two of the funniest, most smart, kind-hearted, enduring, and loyal 'fruits' we could've ever imagined. When I look at the hundreds of pictures taken throughout the years, it is truly a bittersweet moment when I find myself 'missing' the babies in the photo while admiring the young adults who are looking over my shoulder and sharing with me the 'oohs' and 'ahs' of the years gone by. I can hardly wait to experience where the next 9 years will take us! Patience, I tell myself. These 'fruits' must be savored.

Happy Birthday, Martin and Matilda! You are two of my favorite fruits! Mom and Dad Love you!