Apply the Dewey Decimal system to the family’s collection of books.

What are YOUR kids doing this summer?

Eighth grade girls are some of the most difficult, meanest, most emotional people on the planet. Throughout the year she dealt with bullying, shunning, gossip and lost friendships. She fought back and faced some punishments; lessons that are hard to learn, but valuable nonetheless.

Throughout it all this girl kept her spirits up. She made the best of her situation and didn’t succomb to the pressure, or lose her temper over it, often. Her grades were spectacular throughout and she stayed engaged with basketball, volleyball, chorus and drama.

I don’t know that I would have handled myself as well at her age. She’s an amazing kid; I admire her confidence, her spirit and her persistence.

At the eighth grade graduation, a fellow mother who knew about all the drama among the girls in this year’s class referenced the fact that it had been a tough year, in particular, for my daughter. Even though I swore I wouldn’t cry, my eyes welled up at that, thinking about the months of lunches my daughter ate at a table alone, rather than interact with people who would get her into trouble. Mostly, I’m glad it’s over and we can all move on to the next stage.

Nope.

Did you hear the news? My son Prince William proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Kate Middleton.

Oh wait, wrong news.

On my 40th birthday, my son proposed to his long-time girlfriend (not Kate Middleton) otherwise known as the allergist’s daughter, thus making her his fiance. Soon after, both she and I pretty much ran to the Internet to tell the universe.

I’m going to be a mother-in-law! Let the overbearing begin!

I absolutely love my son and if I’d been able to choose from all the women in the world for him to love, I would not have chosen anyone but the allergist’s daughter. I hope that I’ll make a good mother-in-law (not right away though! No hurry! I’m only 40!)

Last night, we lost Gramps. You may remember that in June we said goodbye to Grandma Ruby, his wife of sixty-seven and one half years. We know he missed her, and today we know they are together again.

Gramps was my grandfather-in-law and part of my life and my family for the last 21 years. I loved that guy and today I miss him terribly.

If you’re lucky enough to have grandparents, give them a call and tell them how much you love them. We never have them with us for long enough.

Anyway. The girl has a boyfriend and said boyfriend has been far away at a camp for WEEKS. The camp has no internet. No cell phones. No phones. No fax machines (what’s that?) or other forms of communication that periodically require electricity.

She has been getting letters. Handwritten, in an envelope with an address and a stamp, arriving in the mailbox, letters.

It’s adorable.

Not only is she getting letters, she’s WRITING them. I honestly can’t think of any other scenario that would make this kid (or any other kid of this generation) hand write letters and mail them.

I hope that these letters and the memories of the anticipation and the summer of writing stay with her for a lifetime.

Here’s what I want to know. Who let these two goofy teenagers take this baby home from the hospital?

Look, even the baby isn’t happy about it.

I’m showing you this picture because in it, my husband and I are roughly the age the boy (the little bald kid in the overalls) is now. Twenty-ish. Nineteenish.

Unbelievably, this guy just signed a lease. He signed a lease and he’s moving out on his own. He may or may not take the gorilla with him.

He is, allegedly, a grownup.

He’s been ready for this adventure for awhile. He’s a pretty responsible guy and has half his college education behind him at this point. I don’t take the obligatory first-day-of-school pictures anymore — in fact, the one above, from fifth grade, may be the last in existence.

We’ll miss him, of course, but he’ll only be across town (I keep telling myself) and once in awhile, he might need something from his dear old mom.

He’s ready for this, I know.

Am I?

You may have noticed I’ve been a little quiet here, lately. In real life, events take place that don’t get shared on this blog. It becomes difficult to write, because what’s most on my mind, is not something I’m sharing online. We were also away; off the grid for a few days.

We were saying goodbye to Grandma Ruby, my husband’s grandmother, who passed away several weeks ago, but the memorial was just this Saturday past.

I snapped the photo above of our two kids walking to the service together. They’re dressed up. They’re walking together. It’s a rarity so I captured the image to share.

I don’t write about these events on my blog because they’re private, personal. I have a responsibility to honor the wishes of the rest of my family in this space. I will tell you this, though . . .

When I was born I had three living grandparents, the last of these passed away in the late 1990s when I was in my twenties.  Feeling sorry for me, my husband who, at the time and until he was in his thirties had four — a full set of living grandparents, “gave” me grandma Ruby. Grandma Ruby was mine from that point on. Having known her so long, she was as much my grandmother as my husband’s and so it was not so easy to say farewell.

I also don’t write about these events because I hate getting tears all over my keyboard.

I wanted you to know we’re back; all is well. We’ve said goodbye and we’re drying our faces. Moving on.