Picnic in the Park

We had a picnic in the park yesterday. Most of the women I have been friends with while I have been in Saskatchewan managed to come for a picnic and a play at the park with their kids over the course of a couple of hours. It was lovely to see the women who have passed in and out of my life in the last few years gathered in one place. We have shared breakfast and coffee and sunday school classes and playgroups and chance meetings at the park. We have watched our children grow from babies into school aged kids over the last five years. We have talked over worries about diapers, walking and talking, hitting and biting, sharing, play fighting, socializing, school and home care, as well as sharing stories about our lives as mothers, and our "past lives" before babies, or even before we moved to this town. These are the women who have made my life interesting and rich in the last five years. And now I will leave them behind with memories (and a few quilts) to continue their rounds of parks and playgroups and eventually parent teacher meetings and soccer games. And of course, because we are of the generation we are, we will have lots of emails and Facebook posts and (since I'll tell them about my blog now as I leave) blog comments to keep us in touch over the next years.

It was a bittersweet picnic. Lovely to see so many friends (and remember the few that were away and couldn't make it). Sad to say goodbye for now.