A few weeks ago my hubby was able to fulfill a dream of  spending time in New Hampshire for several weeks while working and taking the opportunity to enjoy the New England fall weather and extraordinary hiking.

I was able to come to terms with this mini-separation because a) we still have kids at home, b) I don’t work remotely, c) I kind of like my alone time and with kids in high school and a hubby out of town—there was plenty of that.  I was also able to deal with this because I planned to visit for a long weekend thereby squashing any resentment–win-win.

It is an odd season we are in with these big kids.  I love it.  Don’t get me wrong.  When they were little it didn’t seem as if we would ever get to this place in our life where our kids were becoming young adults and independent and awesome and we would be back where we started—without kids much of the time.   Hopping on a plane and heading 1500 miles north and leaving our girls to manage school (2 days) and a weekend without us and trusting our oldest son to be on “backup” with our youngest son in college……it was a weird and wonderful place.

Waking up in Florida,  heading to a morning of work, hopping on a plane in 96 degree weather and deplaning to a brisk 52degrees and having dinner in Maine and falling asleep in New Hampshire was a wonderful taste of this new season.  One of the things that is difficult to envision at 24 years old and making all those marriage vows is that 24 years later you still need to love each other because you will have lived 10 lifetimes raising your family with countless seasons still ahead…..and if you still love each ot her and actually LIKE each other it will make that journey far more enjoyable.  It takes work but the dividends on the back side are worth it!

So we hiked and slept and ate and read and enjoyed each other’s company.   Briefly glanced back and planned for days and years ahead.

The foliage was just barely beginning and we were able to glimpse the glory to come in the weeks ahead.

Refreshed, renewed, ready for the next season.