Missing Person

Funny how you don't know what you're missing, until it's gone. Or until HE is gone, I should say.

Just like senior year when we were constantly running into situations that would be our last, we now are continually dealing with so many firsts. Experienced empty nesters know this. We novices are a bit slow on the uptake.

Tonight, for example, it was really strange to get photos taken for the church directory without Carter. Although Carter and I go to a Lutheran church and Jim goes to a Catholic one, we always made sure the three of us were in the directory photos together for both churches.

When you have a "kid" with you, you're sometimes more likely to buy a photo beyond the complimentary one provided, too. When there's just two of us, we flounder. Why would we want a picture of us? We're not quite ready to be just two of us. (Well, I'll speak for myself.)

Although the pictures turned out fine – which you can barely tell in these teeny black-and-white proofs – we didn't want to buy any extras of any poses. There just seemed to be a hole in the photos.

Maybe we'll feel differently when we take pictures of just the two of us on a tropical island vacation, but not right now. We still gotta get through this period of adjustment. (How does it last??)

We're still missing that person.