Wednesday, February 08, 2006


Setting Forth On Journeys...

This is the first year of doing the Nashville show that I don’t anticipate being up until the wee hours of the morning trying to finish everything off, pack etc. It seems almost strange to be doing the last step- blogging about the journey before I set off tomorrow.

Bethany still minds me leaving. How do I explain that one of the reasons I can be here when she gets off the bus from school is because I also have to go away on trips like these 4 or 5 times a year? Erin, of course, is old enough to understand and be a huge help to Nick... but her perceptions are also deeper. The other night she suddenly looked at me as said in a really quiet voice “Do you ever worry when you head off on a trip that something bad might happen?” What a cool thing to be able to have deep discussions now with my eldest child. One of the designs that I am releasing at this show contains a verse I wrote for the day they each leave home. It can be a great design to stitch up for a Graduation, adding the name, date and school in letters beneath the design, but it is also nice just on its own as a sort of wish/blessing for your child as they leave home to make their own way in the world. The design is called CHILD OF MINE and the verse goes as follows:

Child of mine, the time has come
To venture on your own.
May all you’ve learned go with you
To guide you now you’re grown.

Be brave and bold yet loving,
Be fair in all you do.
Be wise but have compassion.
To all you are... be true!

© Jennifer Aikman-Smith

I am glad that I will have my girls home for almost another decade or so, but already I can see how much they have grown and get glimpses of the astonishing young women they may become. The following quote is one that I want them to know.

It’s not the load that breaks you, it’s how you carry it.
-Leana Horne

We shared the load of building this giant snowman as a family, and it was quite bearable... but none of us could lift the middle section and head alone. Amazing that life lessons can come in the middle of fun and when you least expect them!

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