memories...past and future

its no news to anyone that my (our?) favorite place on Earth is the Outer Banks of North Carolina. so i had to smile when Mike mentioned a few weeks ago that they were "making a movie about Rodanthe" (one of the more remote villages on the southern portion of the main island). my first thought was, "oh no! tourists! it'll be ruined!"... then i saw the trailer. Nights in Rodanthe is the screen adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel by the same name. you know him - he did The Notebook and A Walk to Remember. the trailer gave me chills - not Richard Gere or Diane Lane - but those waves....that beach...the moon...the sunrise...the grey, weathered wood found, well, everywhere.

the song stopped me in my tracks - Gavin Rossdale - former lead singer of Bush - showing a softer side sings, "Love Remains the Same". i've included it below...so enjoy.

so i think about how that place remains the same - the essential parts do - and we've been going there for nearly a decade. hopefully as the decades go forth, old memories will be recalled and new ones made - for Mike and for me and for Michael too.

by the way - i LOVE LOVE LOVE that kid's taste in music. he was helping me tonight with scanning some documents downstairs on the laptop - and when i went down, i heard this amazing STUFF coming from the pc. i asked, "who's that?", and he replied "Josh Radin". awesome talent - and once again, my cool senior, who listens to every type of music known to man - turns me on to something good...enjoy. thanks, michael :)

i've been meaning to do this forever...

but i always kidded myself that i was too busy. truth is, you're never too busy to copy down a couple thoughts now and then. to top that off, i'm at a crazy time in my life right now - a real crossroads. I am, ME, BETH, a mother of a SENIOR in high school. how is that possible? i'm not old enough for that. no way. maybe writing it all down will help.

so i listen to music this evening to soothe me - and realize its the lullabyes of my youth (thank you Diane :) ). and it occurs to me - i AM old enough. because the lullabyes of my toddler years do not consist of Michael Bolton, or Richard Marx or even Air Supply. it was James Taylor (i realize as i sit here and my Pandora plays he and Carly's 'You Can Close Your Eyes'), Van Morrison, old Elton John, America, Jim Croce, Simon & Garfunkel...........i could go on for paragraphs.

so ya - i'm old enough to be the mom of this big man that clomps up and down the stairs, as he heads to movies with friends, or off to school, or back from extracurriculars, or even to take a private phone call. right now, he's up to his eyelids registering for college entrance exams (the prices have gone up!), studying hard, talking to college reps, going to college fairs, applying for every scholarship known to man, and trying to fit it all into his busy days.

so - this blog is born. born of a mom of a college-bound kid (what?!) who can take care of so much himself and still needs me for a few big (and a couple little) things. he's the greatest kid - my friend - and my favorite person out there. he makes mike and i proud to call him 'ours' and we know we wouldnt be 'we' without him.

sometimes - he even likes us back. and those days are awesome.

van morrison is playing now.... *smiles*....

"We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won
as we sailed into the mystic

Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly
into the mystic."

a memory from back in the day... before the big senior arrived that i see in the hall.