It’s the end of the summer…

It's the end of the summer,
It's the end of it all,
Those days are gone, its over now, we’re moving on…

Truth be told, I hate that Theory of a Deadman song. 

It fills me with a sense of melancholy at a time of year when I’m already wistfully looking back; already starting to miss the long hazy days filled with sunshine and lawn chairs and cool drinks in hand.

And yet, it’s the song on my mind these days, as the evenings grow cooler, the days gradually become shorter, and the first bittersweet signs of autumn begin to creep in.

People laugh at me when I moan about the poor kids having to go back to school, but I’m not lying when I say there’s an ache in my heart – a heaviness, as I drive down my road on the way to work and I have to wave at the boys out waiting for their buses.  Maybe they’re actually excited to go back, and there’s no doubt their parents are clicking their heels with joy.  Yet, it takes me back to those mornings when I had to pose at the end of my laneway with my backpack on, glaring at the camera, usually tears filling my eyes.

I loved school – but I hated going back at the start of each year.  It always broke my heart having to say good-bye to the summer.

It still does.

I don’t think I could have asked for much more this summer.  Weather-wise, it was spectacular (as long as you weren’t a farmer) – record-breaking heat waves; long, dry spells perfect for sun-tanning on my mom’s patio with a Palm Bay in hand; warm nights at the ball field and those wonderfully cheap ‘ball park beers’. 

There were fun wedding festivities, a road trip, a few days of reminiscing at the camp, pool parties, and a train ride to Toronto.

I turned 29.  And it wasn’t terrible.

A satisfying summer filled with good times with family and friends.  Really, I couldn’t have asked for more.

And honestly, I’m so ready for fall. 

The thoughts of cozy sweaters and scarves, evening walks in crisp cool air, mugs of hot tea, the beautiful changing of the leaves – and yes, even the nights at the ball park, when you wonder if maybe you should have brought a pair of mittens along, because hanging on to the cold beer can with icy fingers feels like the dumbest thing you’ve ever done…

It’s impossible to forget Shawville Fair.  The official kick-off to ‘the changing of the seasons’.  And that wild ride begins tonight.

So much to look forward to.  So much excitement building for all the fun that fall brings along with it.

…Yet still, that uneasy ache. 

There’s a sadness at letting summer go that lingers, taking hold of me, making me wish we could go back and do it all over again.

I’ve never been good with good-byes.

And watching this summer fade, and slowly slip away?

Well, it feels like one of the hardest good-byes yet.

It's the end of the summer,
But we'll see it all again.
So hold on to this moment till then…