New Seasons of Lunchbox Love

Yesterday I was able to spend a few minutes with Will before he went to football...we decided to get a liquid salad (green smoothie) from one of our favorite places, The Sweet Escape!  As we were drinking our smoothie, we were discussing his day at school, his homework and of course, football!  I caught myself staring at him with that green mustache (from turning his cup upside down) and it melted my heart, because I knew this time was so limited and fleeting before my eyes...I took a breath and literally choked back on my tears...

I stopped myself from thinking about "tomorrow" and decided to stay in the "right now" and enjoy it...

And we did!  We laughed on the way to the field and talked about boy stuff...things that make him smile...dogs, drums and football!  

Y'all, that kid loves dogs, drums and football!  And I love hearing him talk about all of it!

Ronnie met me at the high school field and took Will to his football practice so I was able to watch Nathan for a bit...I sat quietly as I watched him snap the ball again and again, running plays with his teammates and I had a mama moment...

Just yesterday he was that little boy...the little boy that ran around with a football in the yard with his daddy chasing him...gulp!  Yep, it was almost a full on sappy senior mama moment right there!

Lil' Moose was doing his moose antler sign!  This Lil' Moose is now Big Moose and still wears that #56!

I choked back the tears again deciding to focus on the "young man" on that field, not the little boy...and just when I decided to do that, that "young man" looked up into the stands as he was walking to the sidelines, he winked at me and gave me a wave...ah....the tears...the tears were unstoppable at that moment!  Because as much as I saw that young man wearing that #56, I saw that little boy in the photo above! 

Big Moose - Senior Year

It was time to leave...

I wanted to wait for him to get out of practice to take him to The Sweet Escape too, but I was unsure how long he was still going to be on the field, so I decided to do the next best thing...

I stopped by The Sweet Escape and pre-paid for a liquid salad and asked if I could write on the cup to leave him a special message...the ladies behind the counter smiled and Mary, the owner, made a comment about how sweet it was and that it was like leaving a note in his lunch box when he was little...my response was of course, he was a senior so I was trying to have special moments with him since this was his last year of school...

I wrote the message on the cup and I could not get out of there fast enough!  Tears burst out of my eyes when I got into my car!  Tears rolled down my cheeks...all of those lunch box notes came to my mind...this was it!  Next it will be "care packages" sent to college...(ah, big mama tears!)  

I sent Nathan a text telling him to go by The Sweet Escape to pick up something...

He called me and said "Thank you Mama!  The liquid salad is amazing but what I love most is the cup!"  I told him what Mrs. Mary said about the lunch box and he said "Mama, you can get me a lunch box if you want to!"  

It was so sweet!  Y'all, I don't need to get him a lunch box, we are beyond that season in life, I know that, but just the thought of the many memories of those lunch box days and now prepping for college days was enough to overwhelm my mama heart at that moment!

That moment, these moments, I believe, are a necessary part of growing pains!  

We are definitely in a new season...a new season that includes finding new ways to embrace the days we are in now...new ways to send some "lunchbox love" without sending a lunchbox!  I think I am on to something that is going to make these Sappy Senior Mama moments just a little bit easier!  And something that will make my boy smile...and that makes this Sappy Senior Mama very happy!

Signing off,


Sappy Senior Mama (with a new plan)

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