Back in 2000 our little local news paper sent out a call asking for people who live in the area to write something for them. It could be just about anything written by just about anyone. Ok; I’m sure that they reviewed the submissions very carefully and that there may have been more than one that didn’t make it to print but a few did.
When I saw this call I said to myself, “I can do that”. So I gave it a try. In fact if I remember correctly I sent then a few stories that summer.
One of the stories I sent them was about changes; in fact I titled it Changes. Yes; I’ve always been a bit creatively challenged when it comes to titles. 
Well our little family is once again changing. K, having graduated KSU, is all settled into his own place and working a full-time job as an Electronic Editor and L in the processes of moving into her first place and soon to be married.
Yep; long long long gone are the colorful clowns, fierce dinosaurs, cuddly bunnies, Barbies, athletic ribbons, medals, school books, saxophones, trumpets, prom dresses, and yearly moves to the college dorm. I don’t think I’ll be making any more Halloween costumes any time soon, and doing laundry and cooking just for two will seem very strange.
However I am very, no let’s make that VERY! excited for them both. Off to face the big wide world on their own and make their own lives, families, traditions, memories, and all those great things you 
discover along the way. I look forward to watching them continue to grow and become the awesome adults I know they are.
So I thought just for fun we’d take a look at what kind of changes we were seeing take place 12 years ago and revisit that story I had submitted to our little local paper. And just for fun I even dug a few old pictures out of the dusty corners of the computer to go along with it…..
CHANGES -by me and published in our little county news paper in July of 2000
**a note added to the page by the editor says that KH is a wife and mother who does a lot of volunteer work with children. Well at least they acknowledged something about me I guess. **
This is turning out to be a summer of change for my family. The night lights around the house are beginning to disappear. Long gone are the colorful clowns, fierce dinosaurs and cuddly bunnies that use to decorate the walls.
The Barbie decorations are slowly being replaced by athletic ribbons and medals. The cries of “Mom! I’m scared of the storm,” are being replaced with cries of “You’re so unfair, everyone else gets to!”
It’s not only the kids that are changing; there have been other changes as well. We started attending a new church. That’s a change that has been needed for some time, I was just a bit reluctant to leave the one that had been a part of our lives for so long.
Of course being able to talk with my mother has changed because of her recent stroke. Although she has made small improvements, it will be a long while before she is telling me how to do things again.
Have you ever noticed how everyone deals with changes differently? Children dealing with growing pains are in tears one minute and happily looking to their futures the next. Some people when faced with change are frightened; they may even have real physical pain. Others face new experiences with excitement, always ready and eager for the next change.
Recently I found some even deal with change by being, well not exactly rude, but certainly much less caring than normal.
Nothing on this earth stays the same forever. I guess that’s good, even if the change is not what you thought you needed. After all, if things stayed the same, people would never grow or learn or even find their own hidden strength.
I’m not sure how I will deal with all the changes we will surely face in the future as our kids grow. Hopefully I will be able to face each day with an open mind and the ability to handle all the wonderful things that it will bring, even if I don’t think that they are so wonderful at the time.
Your story was a wonderful look back with an eye to the future. Thanks.
They do grow up don’t they?