What Comes Next? Part Two

So perhaps there is another reason this doorway feels so significant....

Standing at the edge of what comes next, I find myself reflecting not only on where I've been, but on what this new season might make space for.

The hours I will gain back.

The chance to be fully present in our home life again.

To simply be.

And if I'm honest, there are other layers to this reflection.

Quieter ones.

I've also become increasingly aware of another possibility on the horizon.

One I dare not speak too loudly into reality, as though saying the words might somehow hurry it along.

My fledglings may, eventually...

Even the unfinished thought makes my heart ache.

I know that's what we're supposed to do as parents. Raise them. Love them. Give them roots strong enough to know where home is and wings strong enough to fly.

And I want them to fly.

I really do.

I just don't need to finish that sentence yet.

Growing up was never meant to mean growing apart.

I've always loved the idea of independent connectedness. A life where we each have the freedom to build dreams of our own, while continuing to share our lives side by side.

I know there is something important in that transition from fledgling to flight.

I suspect there may be something important in it for the Mumma bird too.

I'm just not entirely convinced I'm ready for mine.

And then there is another part of this story.

The part that belongs to us.

Having found each other midway through life, we've never really known what it is to be simply us.

Our life together has always existed alongside parenting, work, responsibilities, and years of study.

We've loved and built our life together while juggling all the commitments that came with the season we were in.

And now, for the first time, I find myself wondering what more space might look like for us too.

Space to be present.

Space to slow down.

Space to simply be together without quite so many things competing for our time.

Perhaps there is something beautiful waiting to be discovered there too.

Not a different us.

Just us, with a little more room to breathe.

Still no steak knives.

But there is one more part.

And perhaps the biggest question of all isn't what comes next?

You'll have to read Part III to find out.

LLP, Tash xo