“And the seasons, they go round and round…”

Dear Ones,

This morning finds me in one of my happy places — beautiful Jericho Beach Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the third day of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. I’m here with my friend Jessica, who came over from Victoria, and thousands of friendly strangers. The Sunday morning “church” service at the South Stage under the trees is always one of the highlights of the weekend. Last year Ruthie Foster and Julian Taylor lifted us up higher and higher, even as the news broke on our phones about Joe Biden stepping down.

But I want to tell you about the week I just spent in Maine visiting my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter Grace. I had not seen them in person for four years.

It’s been hard having my only grandchild grow up on the other side of the country. After she was born in 2008, I flew eastward every spring and every fall until the pandemic came along. I missed a couple of years then visited again in 2022, when she was 14. The next few years brought some health challenges that kept me at home. But I was determined to visit this year because it’s such a significant time in Grace’s life. She’s 18 now and just graduated from high school. She’ll be off to college at the University of Rhode Island in the fall. This summer is a liminal time for her, as she dances on the edge of childhood and the wide-open potential of adulthood. She’s excited and she’s a little nervous. Both/and. It’s a rite of passage for her. It’s one for her parents too, who will have to adjust to being empty nesters.

My desire heading east was for my connection to each of them — son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter — to be strengthened and deepened. I was also pretty anxious about the long journey (four airports, three flights each way). A friend gave me this blessing: “May your journey to Maine be ease-filled and may the reunion with your family be joyous.” Another wise friend gave me a sacred task: “Notice how grace arrives.”

(I especially love that phrase because, of course, my granddaughter’s name is Grace.)