Last Year's Cookie

I told Kendall I'd do some of her writing prompts with her, so here's another one. 

Write last year's fortune cookie; it got everything right.

I can still remember sitting there last year, happy, full, relaxed after finishing dinner. The whole family was crammed around a small table at the only Chinese restaurant in Elizabeth. As we chatted and laughed, I opened my fortune cookie. It's a habit really, as I have no intention of eating the treat; I was curious what it would say. This was revealed to me:

The next year will see your children grown up.

That's quite a statement, and I didn't think much of it at the time. My kids were 22, 15, and 14, and a long way towards being grown up already. They manage themselves most days and can handle their lives with minimal help from me.

It's been a year, during which I saved the fortune. When I opened my desk drawer this morning, rooting around for a pair of scissors, the small white paper caught my eye. I pulled out the fortune and sat back to think about it.

It's been an amazing year for my kids. My oldest, Kyle, came back from Seattle last year and lived with us while he finishes college. He went through a series of new jobs, learning the good and bad of working for money, and eventually decided to take over horse chores and be more self employed. Kyle was also a big help with the other kids, as he's a driver. He moved them to and from activities when Tia and I were busy. He even agreed to watch them a few times while we went out of town.

Delaney also grew up in different ways. He managed his heavy school workload much better this past year, learning to get homework done and study. He also became more involved in school activities, participating in the Knowledge Bowl team that went to the state finals, becoming a bit of a leader for the team with another boy. He started driving, and it's been neat to see him willing to take on chores when needed.

My little Kendall also changed a bit. A second year of middle school volleyball, where she performed well, took on roles that she didn't necessarily want to take, and handled not being picked as a captain by catty girls. She also went through a second season of club ball, taking on the middle role even though she didn't love it, but because the coach knew she was really good at playing there. However the biggest thing I've seen is she readily took over for Kyle when he was done with horse chores. She's gotten herself up and going without complaint, just going to work each weekend. That's been an amazing thing to see.