New Chapters

We spent the night before, traveling along the edge of the coastal mountain range. Once again amazed and in awe of the beauty of this area. There was excitement as we traveled! We were about to have a glimpse into the pages of the new chapters in Bryant's life. I, of course, shed a few quiet tears as we made that drive, knowing everything was about to change. When you are told as your child is a toddler that you must enjoy it all, because the years go fast, you nod and agree. Never, could I have imagined just how fast those years really travel. Bry has been so much fun over the years as he changed from this young child who had to spend time each night lining up every toy in a perfect row before he could go off to bed, to digging holes deeper than he could stand in, in the back yard. We cheered him through his short love of wrestling as he grinned and held high those trophies! The soccer years were some of the best times! We loved the years we spent cheering him on as he ran those fields and spent all his free time watching the games on tv. We spent years homeschooling, where we learned so much as a famly. It was wonderful to have the experience of learning with my children and our homeschool group. Music has been his love since he was born! He has spent so much of his life enjoying and playing it. Our children have been lucky to have many musical influences in their lives, beginning with their father. He began singing to the children before they were born and continues to gift them with music having to make quick stops by the store on his way home at night because yet again he has thought of a CD they must add to their collections. And there were so many others that helped to fill this love for Bry. On a trip we took to Springfield years ago with our homeschool group, Bry fell in love yet again. This time it would be with architecture and this would lead us to the very campus we traveled to in order to begin Bryant's next chapter. To enter this space was inspiring as we walked a campus that had been established in the 1800s and to hear those that would be the very persons to push Bry to learn and stretch his imagination over the next six years. Amazing people and beautiful buildings are what awaited us as we left the subway and walked the short path to the entrance of UC Berkeley. Clicking on the arrow at the title of this post will take you there as well. You can then experience a bit of the energy we felt as we walked the campus and listened to many beautiful people that day. As we sat and listened to the band and then the many speakers who graced us with their time, I again shed a few silent tears and was covered with joy and excitement for the possibilities waiting for Bryant as he enters his next chapter in life. To hear the dreams of the architecture school of developing a world that will be earth friendly and that will not contribute but lessen global warming. To listen as they described their dreams for urban development. These are the things that Bry knew would fill me with inspiration. As we walked out of this presentaion and entered the paths of beauty, Bry turned grinning and asked if I liked the place now that I had heard their ideas for our future. We toured the dorms and all they had. This is where our son would live and grow. He would make new friends and study through the nights. Bry is lucky to have several friends of his going off to Berkeley with him and they have spent a lot of time comparing notes and helping each other learn all there is to learn over the last few weeks. We walked the paths and breathed in as much as possible that day. Brit and I enjoyed a dance performance as the guys watched a baseball game. They were playing Stanford that day and the guys had to see how we look. There were of course a couple protests that day on campus because it would not be Berkeley if there weren't. We filled our bags with information galore! We left the campus and walked the short way back to catch the subway out of town. We crawled into the car and headed to the closest coffee shop to prepare for our trip back home along the edge of those majestic mountains. They will be what cradles my son as he rides from our home to school on the train with friends. These will be the sights we see over the next six years as we travel to and from the campus. As we drove along side these beautiful mountains, the cell phones were out and we listened as Bry called yet another relative or friend to relay all the fun he had had at his new home in Berkeley. May these next chapters bless himand may he bless this world with his creations!