Pumpkin Patch Posse

 


Even though I live in Florida, I grew up in the Midwest and love fall. My birthday is right after Halloween, which probably has something to do with my love of that holiday (friends always gave me some of their candy for my birthday). I liked being in school with my friends, I liked playing soccer, I loved the color of the trees. And I loved carving pumpkins.

This is not quite how my husband saw the season. He had a scary experience as a kid on Halloween, he lived in Wisconsin and knew the long winter was around the corner, and he had no affinity for carving pumpkins.

So it was up to me to establish the fall traditions in our house. And one of my favorites was our annual family trip to the same pumpkin patch every year starting with my daughter's first fall season when she wasn't even a year old yet. The weather was always beautiful, we'd often see old neighbors, and we'd take a family picture on the same bench. For 18 years.



Then it hit me the other day - my daughter won't be home to go to the pumpkin patch this year.

People, this hit me as hard as anything has so far as a new empty nester. Both my husband and I moved around a lot as kids, so I was really proud to bring stability to my daughter's life such as going back to the same pumpkin patch every year. I want to go back, but honestly my stomach tightens every time I think about going without her. 

I went through old photo albums to find a photo of her first trip to the pumpkin patch. That's it at the top of this post. My heart melts every time I look at it (she thinks she looks like her grandma). Going through those albums turned into its own trip down memory lane. So many cute photos that made me miss her even more! I don't recommend looking at photo albums of your kids when they were young unless they are home for a visit.

My husband and I will probably go to the pumpkin patch next week. We hope to run into old neighbors, and we'll take a picture on the bench. But I need to find a way to reframe this. I need a new tradition. I need a new pumpkin patch posse.

Any suggestions?





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