Monday, June 3, 2013

The Reward

by Terri




Having just returned from a visit to see my oldest son and his girlfriend in Dallas, I got to thinking about how wonderful it is when your children grow up to be people you love spending time with, people who are your friends as well as your children. Wonderful and rewarding.

It is the reward for all the nights you stayed up with them when they were sick or had a big school assignment due the next day, all the dirty diapers you changed and dirty baseball clothes you washed (again and again), all the meals you fixed and all the vegetables you tried to get them to eat, all the swim meets, soccer games and school plays you sat through.  I feel blessed to have three grown-up sons who I not only love but whose company I enjoy and who I admire and respect. Yes, I am blessed.

I also want to talk about what a wonderful group of women we have as contributors to Focusing on Life. As a group, we have women who hold down full-time jobs, are mothers of young children, babysit their grandchildren on a regular basis, write their own blogs, and sometimes more than one of the above! And yet here they are, day in and day out, giving their time and talent to helping make this blog what it is. And they never cease to amaze me in how much they give of themselves for this project.  Take a minute to watch our new summer blog header slideshow which features a photo from each of our 11 contributors. If that doesn’t make you feel like summer, nothing will!

We also have a new Monthly Focus for June. Click on the tab on the top of the blog for the introduction of our new focus.  If you are on Instagram be sure to post your images using our #focusingonlife tag. Each week we will continue to select certain images from the Flickr gallery and Instagram gallery to feature.

And finally, we want you to know how much we appreciate you, our readers. Without you, we wouldn’t be here. I know the rest of the contributors join me in telling you how much we appreciate you taking time out of your day to read our posts, comment when  possible and post your images for us all to enjoy.  So glad you’re here!


13 comments:

Cristina Dalla Valentina said...

Thanks to you for all the work you do and the inspiration you give us! Thank you very much! :)

stamper2 said...

So happy for you Terri. Enjoying our grown children is truly a blessing. I so felt every word you wrote, and this morning, I too am feeling blessed. Sometimes we need to be reminded about how wonderful our daily life is.
I enjoy the Focusing On Life Blog!

stamper2 said...

I forgot to mention how beautiful each photo is on the new headline! I smiled at each one with anticipation of those summer activities becoming part of MY summer!

Deanna said...

Ahh, such a sweet moment shared between Mother and son. It is wonderful when your children grow up and you enjoy time spent with them. Thanks, Terri for all you do to make this site so beautiful. It's my pleasure and blessing to be a part of this spectacular group of women.

CarolHart said...

such a lovely post Terri. You are such a wonderful mother so it is no surprise to me that your children have grown into such wonderful adults. many thanks for all the work you put into this blog. I am honored to be a small part of this beautiful "family."

heyjudephotography said...

Terri, I must reiterate what Deanna and Carol H. have said - it is such a pleasure to be a part of this loving and talented family, and I too thank everyone for all of the effort put into this to make it work so well. Love the image of you and your son. My older son turns 22 in a week. It is such a joy to have him home for the summer and enjoy time with him as the wonderful young man that he has grown to be.

Viv@Thoughts from the Desktop said...

So love checking in on the FOL ladies, I get to read your post in the early evening here in the UK it is something I look forward to ....

Linda said...

It is such a reward to see your children grown and happy. It's wonderful to enjoy their company as adults! Sometimes I wonder where the time went! (and sometimes I wonder how they made it to adulthood! lol!)
This group of women is amazing. I am inspired by each one!

Dotti said...

Thank you, Terri! Lovely post. I am proud of all the collaborators here at FOL. And, yes, it is one of life's greatest joys to enjoy time with our adult children. Is that an oxymoron? Anyhow, you know what I mean. But as Linda said, where does the time go?

kelly said...

such a beautiful post terri! and like you i am blessed to enjoy a wonderful relationship with my daughter. and just echoing the other ladies - thank you so much for all you do to not only make the blog beautiful, but for helping to nuture this wonderful community of women. xoxo

Carol said...

I can't miss this one,even though I am late to the party. I too feel blessed to have found you all. And so grateful for the administrative work that Dottie and Terri do. Terri - the new banner is beautiful and your son is handsome!
Judy - my newly 23 year old son is also home for the summer, and I am also enjoying the company!. Lovely post, Terri

janice said...

Beautiful post Terri... there is nothing I like more than spending time with my 3 kids... well, maybe spending time with my granddaughters! I feel so blessed everyday!
All the work you ladies put into this beautiful site shows... great work all of you.

Kim Stevens said...

Community and family, that is what life is about. So grateful to call all of you family in this wonderful community of blogging and photography. I just had the most wonderful time with my daughter tonight, even though we both hate shopping! haha

I just can't imagine her being away at college in just a few short months....whaaaaaa!

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