Autumn Memories

Last night, I distractedly called into the living room, asking my husband to look up what the weather would be like today. I was standing in front of my closet pondering what to wear to work. "Hmm... the skirt with this blouse would look nice..." I glanced over the sweaters in my closet and longed for the weather to snuggle into them. I was resigning myself to another day of thin shirts and breezy pants when I heard my husband's response: "High of 68 tomorrow."

I blinked. "Really?!" I ran into the living room to look at his computer screen myself. There it was. A beautiful forecast of sunny skies and a high of 68. For two days we will have the glorious fall, breezy weather my heart has desired. I've had enough of the suffocating humidity and hazy days of summer. And now we have a momentary reprieve and I am soaking in its glory.

Waking up today to a cool apartment and a crisp scent of leaves in the air stirs something in my soul. I feel at home in this season. The colors burst all over the landscape. Leaves reveal jewel tones of gold, amethyst and ruby. Cold beverages warm hands and hearts as friends sit outside cafes and on campus lawns, taking a moment to connect in the spaces between busy and overwhelmed. LIFE happens in the fall.

Growing up, I never anticipated the return of fall very much. I have never been one for change and fall usually meant a new school year, with new expectations. A creature of routine scampers away from change as quickly as a cockroach from light. But recently, I've come to reflect on this season with a warm fondness.

Autumn. Fall. It holds so many beautiful memories...

Standing in the parking lot with a good friend, exchanging words and hugs as he goes off to school.

A kiss at midnight as the cool breeze swirls around us- our first kiss as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Laughing outside with friends as we await going on stage for the opening night of a play.

Getting soaked with rain walking across campus with a friend and then getting back to our dorm only to realize we could have used the tunnels.

Waking up early at a retreat and walking through the foggy air to a room full of college students there to hear God's Word and praise His name.

Watching the UC football team two rows away but anticipating the half-time show with more excitement and awe.  

Looking over these few memories and surveying others I hold dearly, I see a pattern unfold. Connections and new beginnings. A slower pace- which seems like an oxymoron when you consider that fall has usually been the starting gate and busy period for the last 18 years. But more than the homework, the events, and late nights, I remember moments of beauty, of connection, of relationships.

 I realize, as I write this that I am longing for this autumn to be filled with the same promise. 

New relationships. A time of slowing down and speeding up. Transition. Let this season be filled to the brim with warm memories that comfort and excite. Let this season bring LIFE.