The boys and I had a beyond wonderful day. I thought we’d do school but there really wasn’t time. When they were up we left for the grocery store and other places. The first stop was Walmart to find the lights for the tree. We took our deep breaths and steeled ourselves and went in. The lights were not hard to find but the harvest throw for a tree skirt was. There was a Halloween one with spider webs but I didn’t want that one.

There was one with a sun and moon but I didn’t want that one. They were all for the most part picked over and gone. One of them suggested we could look at Aldi and I thought that was a fantastic idea. We checked out and drove across the street to Aldi. We didn’t have a quarter in the van. One of the boys said someone will have one. I didn’t want to be that person who knows by now that you should’ve had a quarter.

“Ma’am?”, she shouted from across the way, “Do you need a cart?” I’d only been digging around in my purse for five seconds. Yes I needed a cart. She didn’t care about the money she said, and sent it my way. “Thank you Jesus”, I said aloud as we walked into the store. We filled the cart about halfway. We found a throw that wasn’t harvest but was blue and white like the school colors, perfect for a track meet blanket in the spring.

We stopped by the library on the way home. I think I found the book I’ve been getting the texts about and my son took it in and switched it out for a new one. In the blur of the morning and my own daily thinking, one of them had said something about stopping by the U-Pick pumpkin patch for school. There’s a sign on the side of the road with an arrow. They’d asked me enough times until it was added to the day’s agenda.

It was the last thing we did before coming home to clean and put away food. How much they’ve grown up, yet in ways barely seeable as you walk day by day. We decorated the tree and put the blue and white blanket and our three picked pumpkins underneath it. Everyone liked the surprise. We had Grandma over and another friend from the camp. Yet at the end of the day, the best moments for me were in the journey of getting there.