One Year

Over the weekend, we visited what will be our hometown in Pennsylvania.  While we know this town from visiting friends, it looked quite different this time around.  When you know you'll be calling those ballparks and schools home, light shines differently on them. 

You're more critical.  More attuned to what surrounds you.  You open your eyes wide for the first time and look around.

And to be honest, it looked pretty good to me.

My older son is eleven.  On Saturday we signed him and our younger son up for baseball in our new town.  We know that the surest way to meet friends is to get involved, and they both are good athletes.  My older son met a few kids and got a feel for the coaches.  He needed to see more of what awaits him, and this weekend was the first step.

We know this move will hit him the hardest.  He is saying goodbye to a tight knit group of friends he's had since first grade.  They've played sports and enjoyed many sleepovers.  There have been many laughs between them.  He is also at a time in his life that he is changing the most.  He is maturing and finding his way to "teen-dom."

The thought sends chills down my spine.

This weekend, he was quiet driving home to New York.  I asked him if he was going to be okay with this move.  He told me he didn't know, and that he was uncertain. 

I told him life is what we make it.  You can either move with a terrible feeling you will be miserable, or move excited about all the possibilities that lay before you.

I promised him he would be okay.  He asked if I was sure.  I told him I was.  I told him he had to believe me, and that he needed to give himself one year.

Just one.

It's a big promise, but he needs to believe he will adapt and meet friends.  More importantly, he needs to let me do the worrying.  I've always taken great comfort in people who are positive things will work out.  It's reassuring just to hear someone else say that everything will be okay.

Optimism is a powerful force. 

No one can ever be positive how things will work out, but people can be positive.  Over here, we're choosing optimism.  And excitement.  We're looking on the bright side and ready to tackle all the changes ahead.

It's going to be a long few weeks, and I'm sure some of my brain cells are about to be fried.  But I assure everyone I'll come out of this smiling.

And I'm promising my kids they will be smiling too.  Maybe not all the time, but they will be a year from now.

One year and a lot of optimism will get us there.