Lasts

Have you ever noticed that parents tend to focus a lot on "firsts"?

We celebrate the first time our baby lifts his head.
The first time she rolls over.
The first word, first tooth, first step.

Then as they grow older, it's…

His first boy-girl party.
Her first dance.
First date, first zit (devastating!), first time behind the wheel of a car.

The other day, I was cleaning out my planner pockets and came across a tiny folded piece of paper. Opening it up, I saw a pencil drawing of two stick figures. On the page were one little person and one big person with a mop of curly hair; they were holding hands. Joshua had given the drawing to me just before I'd taken him on his very first official play date. "So you won't miss me too much while I'm gone," he'd said.

As I sat there, holding that piece of paper, I suddenly realized that as much as I'd focused on firsts, I'd somehow failed to notice many of the "lasts." (Read more...)