"Remember When" & Winter Haven

On Sunday, we spent a lot of the day in Winter Haven. On the drive down, we listened to a flashback top 30 country countdown from 2004. The number one song was "Remember When" by Alan Jackson. It is probably my favorite song of all time. I shushed the kids and sang along. Then, I realized how my perspective has changed since that song came out. In February 2004, I was in my final months of law school. I had just married Thomas and our whole life was in front of us. The song symbolized the start of my adulthood. I identified most with the initial verses, particularly the line, "remember when, 30 seemed so old, now looking back, it's just a stepping stone to where we are, where we've been, said we'd do it all again. Remember When..." At the time, 30 was still a few years away, but for some reason, I just loved that line. Well, I loved the whole song. But, I remember thinking, that yes, at one time 30 did seem old, but now it is just around the corner. And, I liked thinking of it as a stepping stone from my past to my future. It made me excited for my future with Thomas. I thought that one day, "the sound of little feet (will be) the music, we dance to week to week". It was all in front of us and I couldn't wait!

I have spent a lot of time thinking about that song over the past week. I hear it regularly, I actually have a jewelry box that plays the melody. But, I haven't thought about the words in a long time. And, I realized that now 30, and 40(!) have come and gone. We are still dancing to the sound of little feet. But, they are getting a lot bigger. We have experienced challenges I never anticipated. But, I am still so glad to be living this life with Thomas. I am so thankful for the love I feel for him, likely more than I imagined in 2004. I don't yet completely relate to the final verse: "Remember when, we said when we turn gray, when the children grow up and move away, we won't be sad, we'll be glad, for all the life we've had and we'll remember when." But, I thought about how in another 16 years, that will be my life. The children will all be grown and out of the house and I don't want to be sad, I want to be thankful for all the moments I am currently living. It is a good reminder for me to enjoy this stage of life. I tend to get so frustrated at the little things and I need to remind myself that this is just another short phase; it goes so quickly. I was shocked when I realized that the song came out more than 15 years ago. I "remember when" it was released so vividly. I imagine the next 15 will pass in much the same manner.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming. On Sunday, we drove to my dad's house and had lunch with him. We played Spoons, ate pizza and chatted. Kim and Kevin came by to see us and Luke spent a few hours talking to "Hey Google." At one point, he came up to Thomas and whispered, "Dad, you might want to cover your ears." When Thomas asked why, he said, "because I am going to tell Hey Google to turn on the fire alarm." Thankfully, Google doesn't know that command! We had a really nice visit.

Then, we headed to Marta's house for dinner. Matt, Cristin and George were also there. The only one missing was Elizabeth. We had a good time with them. It is so nice to be able to spend time with our Florida family and it is why we moved here. I look forward to many more similar visits!

And, in other random news, the weather has been really nice lately. On Monday (President's Day), Jack, Kara and I finally set out to find the elusive Lake Nona. It was a short bike ride from our house and was really pretty. It is nice to be spending time outside in "winter". It makes up for it (a little) that it is too hot to be outside in summer.