Summer has arrived

The weekend is over. J. is tucked into her bed after a long night spent with friends for grad nite. Relatives have gone home and there are no more events where I need to go 'smile and nod.'
Somewhere over the weekend, during the small pockets of time that we were actually alone, A. and I found the common ground we needed, got some clarity, sighed deep sighs. Somehow we manage to be human and fallible. We get to learn from our mistakes and our reactions. We still get to grow.
Watching J. walk across that stage (with her propeller cap), I thought about all the years spent with her as a child in my life. Can I just say now how absolutely adorable she has always been? (with a few years of early teenhood omitted from that statement). Eighteen years with this man by my side as we watched her grow up into this stunning and brilliant young woman. There's a lot of water under that bridge - and the occasional log jam has happened along the way. So we have to pick the logs and flotsam apart, let certain things float away - enough so that we keep the flow and course of our relationship clear.
The realization that I keep coming back to is that the work on a relationship is never done. There is always the fertile ground of our core issues that will come into contact with the other - and results vary as to how well we manage that process. I trust - and this is fairly significant for me - I trust that we will continue to walk that path together.
The house is quiet, everyone sleeping in. No need to hurry off to school - or work for that matter - at least not today. Summer has arrived thanks to school schedules.