The temperature has dropped lately and the days are golden and agreeable. My middle child Sarah returned from camp on the west coast last night and she looked radiant and well. She wrapped her arms around me when she arrived and for a moment I felt very loved. Covering the top of her head with kisses (yes. I am still taller than her... for now) I felt the relief of all parents when you let your children leave on an adventure and they come back healthy and even better for the experiences that leaving home can provide. The summers are always a challenging time for me. When your means are modest to limited to virtually non-existent there is tremendous pressure to create the opportunities that make those months off from school more than a series of lazy days spent marking time. One of the harder aspects of parenthood is the profound inadequacy you feel when you face limited resources. We can't give them all the weeks at camp, the car, the theatre tickets and vacations they desire that so define life for the upper middle class of Westchester County. Will they be better people because of this? Do they wish they had a different set of parents with Wall Street jobs and the income to boot? It'd hard to say. Our town is full of have and have not's and what I am able to give them is truly given from the heart. This morning, entering Sarah's room and seeing her strong tanned legs as she sprawled sleeping happily in her bed made me think maybe we are doing okay after all- by virtue of the fact that we are doing the best we can.
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