My dear Abby

It's beautiful and scary to see time pass right before your very eyes. Children grow up, parents age, friends move, time never stands still..

I'm thinking about my first born Abby today. Thinking about the fact that she'll turn 16 in just a few months. 16!!! I remember when she turned 3 and we threw her a huge party in Ashburn, VA, at the park with "lots and lots of slides". How she loved that park, and we'd spend hours, days, weeks at that park. I remember it fondly because not only did I share that time with my 2 daughters Abby and Elizabeth (infant at the time) but also with my sissie Mindy and her little girl Anna. We'd pack our lunch, our suncreen and bugspray and head over, plant our blankets on the ground and let the kids run free. Lots of laughs and tears were left at that little park in Ashburn. Such precious memories.


I'm thinking how quickly our lives pass by. We are flowers quickly fading, as Casting Crowns writes in the song "Who am I?"

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

We only have one shot at this thing called life and I want to make mine an expert shot (I was an expert sharpshooter in the Army, can you believe that?).



Abby has her permit now. She is driving whenever possible, morning, noon and night. Trying to get her 45 hrs of driving time in, so anxious to get her license in November. All I can think is...this can't be happening. Abby is growing up. She is dating, she wears makeup, she does laundry, she's planning for college, her first apartment, her future. I get choked up thinking about it because even though I knew when I had her I'd have to send her off into the real world someday, I never really believed it would happen. She'll be a junior next year, a junior. Only 2 more years and she'll be off to college. I want to savor these next 2 years as much as possible. I want to forget about the things that don't really matter (like the cleanliness of her bedroom) and REALLY enjoy my Abby. I want to go shopping for dresses, get manicures, go out to lunch together, catch afternoon matinees, stop and watch the sunset, hold her, hug her, laugh with her, cherish her.

When life catches up with me, I want to remember that as crazy as life gets, we are only promised TODAY, not tomorrow, not a month from now, not 2 years from now. Life is a great big canvas and we need to throw all the paint on it that we can.




I love you Abigail Linda Tibbetts. You are a constant source of joy and love to my heart!