See Change

Of all the holidays, none seems as focused on transition as Labour Day does. The most significant change is the return to school, and for three quarters of my household there will be a direct impact.

But in addition to changes in our daily routine, the air is cooling, the leaves have begun changing on our street, and the apples from our tree have already been harvested. (Audrey has turned them into an astonishing forty pounds of apple butter, in fact.)

Life changes loom as well: my sister and her husband have sold their Canadian home, maintaining the single residence in Houston required for his work. We've drawn together to move my mother into a tidy ground floor apartment which she seems quite taken with, or will be, once she gets everything where it belongs.

This weekend we finally re-shingled our roof, a long overdue chore that, although expensive, does provide a bit more peace of mind. Similar to the furnace though, such a large purchase makes you want to show it off to people, but I can barely rouse interest in my new roof covering, so it is quite unreasonable to expect others to do so.

Glory starts the eleventh grade this year, shortening the countdown to Audrey and I becoming empty nesters, at least potentially. Or perhaps not - Glory is among the first to remind us that the average age of  a person moving out on their own in Edmonton is around 28 now.

Fenya's current plan is to remain with us until she is finished school, which is grand, but this summer it hardly felt like she was here at all. The month in China took a big bit out of the summer schedule for her, and once she returned, she began her volunteer training for UAlberta's Peer Support Centre (40 hours over two weeks!), plus working her job, plus trying to touch base with her friends before the end of summer. And of her course, her boyfriend.

Yes, she's been seeing Austin for a year now, so they had a number of observances this past weekend. Earlier this summer though, she had agreed to sing in church this weekend, with Austin accompanying her on guitar. This not only gave us a chance to see her (and more importantly, hear her, since it has been a while), but gave the extended family and friends a reason to come out as well. The long weekend services are not tremendously well -attended, generally speaking, but we accounted for 14 seats of the congregation this past Sunday.

The song they had selected was a song called "I Can Only Imagine", by a Christian rock group called MercyMe. The lyricist had written it after the loss of his father, imagining what it would be like to encounter him again in a heavenly state, under the eyes of his Creator.

United Church theology doesn't talk a lot about the hereafter, which is how I prefer it, actually, but it certainly felt heavenly to heard the words and music.

[Here's a link in case the embedded video doesn't work.]

I won't lie - it can be kind of tough learning to share your firstborn daughter with the world in general, and with a boy in particular. But in truth, I'm glad Fenya's first boyfriend is someone who appreciates her tremendously, doesn't take himself too seriously, and shares her love of music.

Change is relentless. Not that long ago we were sweltering in 30 degree heat, and here we are already talking about when to put winter tires on the vehicles. Tara and Jerry won't be back from Texas now until Christmas. Glory's schedule sees her dancing four to five nights a week until the Oireachtas in November and the Western Canadian Championships. How sappy is it to miss your kids sometimes, even though they are still under your roof? (Sigh.)

With all this looming, I was grateful that Tara and Jerry and Jason and Mum could come over after church for lunch so we could all tell Fenya and Austin how much we appreciated their singing, and just enjoy being a family together.

Because no matter what shape it takes or wherever everyone ends up, that is one thing that won't change.