Postcard From The Past

Recently, my husband sent me a postcard from the past, in the form of an emailed picture his brother David had dug up. (It's the top one.) I'm guessing it was taken in 2002. Joakim would have been turning 10, and Mattias 8. I saved it to my phone, and it occurred to me that there was a twin to it, taken by me just a couple of weeks ago. (It's the bottom one.)

Joakim is going on 16, and Mattias 14. Some things haven't changed: Joakim still has highlights, and Mattias still sports his dreads. They still play soccer, though they've swapped the LCSA (our local soccer association) jerseys for club and school ones. And they're still my sweet, smart, funny and unique little boys.

Never mind that they're both inches taller than me now. Or that the period when they could fit my shoes, and I was forever on a fruitless hunt for my sneakers or clogs, came and went in the blink of an eye. Or that the teenage hormones are raging, making Joakim sullen and sleepy, and Mattias touchy and obstinate.

That postcard from the past made me smile. It transported me back to a time when our family life was a little less hectic. When I still picked out their clothes, when they didn't have cell phones, My Space pages, or (gasp) cars.

But it made me realize how much I enjoy the journey our family is on. And how rewarding it is to live in the moment. Preserve the moment, sure, but then turn your eye toward the next one.

For us, some of the moments we're looking towards is Joakim applying for a hardship driver's license (the hardship is Mom being the perpetual soccer chauffeur...), and Mattias and I taking a trip to Sweden to celebrate Mormor's (grandma's) 70th birthday.

The Swedish poet Karin Boye put it something like this: "Sure there's rhyme and reason to our journey. But it's the journey itself that's most worthwhile."

Enjoy your journey!
Rikki