Snapshot

Have you ever had a completely innocuous event happen, but then when you look back at the photos, you realize it was actually momentous?


Sometimes I forget how much Ty hates for me to take his picture. I have countless photos of a scowling teen peering/glaring through his long hair, indicating that if I didn't put the camera down immediately I would be in big trouble.

Then he had a heart change. It seems as though he realized that it would take only a few seconds and history could be documented and he could move on with life. I now have photos of a smiling, adult son! (I'm thinking his Brown-Eyed Girl may have had something to do with it.) I'm so thankful for this!


Once in a while, though, he has simply had enough.


The night before Easter, when they were all coloring eggs, I was happily snapping away for documentation. They finished the eggs and cleaned up, and we had all gathered onto the big red couch (AKA Red Mammoth). I was still taking pictures when Ty stuck his hand out like he hasn't done in a while:

"Will you stop taking pictures? Please?"



This next shot shows me in Mama Rebellion, stubbornly taking his photo again with the thought of, "Don't tell me what to do, young man! I'll take your picture if I darn well please!"


And there it is. There's the momentous occasion.


In the first photo, his other hand is beginning to reach for his ringing cell phone. In the second photo, he's walking away from the noisy women with his phone to his ear, answering it.



It was the call he had been waiting for, the call telling him he could lease the apartment he'd been asking about, and when could they meet?



My firstborn now has a Landlord and will be moving out June 1st, a month earlier than originally planned. We are SO excited for him!


Since then, there have been arrivals of furniture.
He borrowed a co-worker's truck so he could bring home his new couch.


Of course, we all had to test it, and then he covered it back up with the plastic to keep the dogs from it. Actually, I think he'd prefer concertina wire and laser beams with an alarm system to keep them from three feet of the couch!

Bed frame, coffee table, all are gathering in anticipation of his move. He has a place to sit, a place to sleep (once he gets the mattress) and a plan for table and chairs.

He: Get furniture for apartment.

Me: What's his color scheme?!?

He: Do laundry at Mom's.

Me: Do laundry at Mom's!

He: I could eat some meals at Mom's.

Me: Eat meals at Mom's!

He: Plans for Mega Media Setup.

Me: Eat meals at Mom's!


Himself and I could not be more proud of our son. He has done all we have asked him to do, and he has done it well. We have done all we could to prepare him for his future and he has a great job, great plans, and a great God. The time is so right for this milestone! Once again, I'm experiencing the pains of the season I'm in, but it's not in a wailing and weeping kind of way.

This is good and right and wonderful, but my firstborn is leaving forever. There are centuries, millennia of parents who have walked this path, and now I am one of them. Bittersweet, I look forward with great anticipation to all that comes next!