This weekend, I watched one of my daughter’s friends get married.

Before the ceremony, the girls gathered at my house for cocktails, and the sound of their voices and laughter filled the rooms again.

For a little while, it sounded like the old days.

In April and May, two of my middle son’s buddies married their perfect partners.

And in June, I watched my own son marry the love of his life, on a day I’ll carry with me always.

During their first dance, for a moment, he was every age he’s ever been.

Watching our kids and their friends get married is amazing and slightly odd. We know they’re old enough to make these vows, but our brains still see silly teenage boys and adorable little girls with gap-toothed smiles.

Time plays tricks on us.

In our minds, they’re still the kids who piled into our cars, slept on our couches, ate all our food, and filled our homes with noise. Now they’re walking down aisles and exchanging vows.

We’ve gone from packing lunches and driving carpools to sitting in wedding chairs, dabbing our eyes, trying to memorize every second.

Somewhere between the first day of kindergarten and the first dance, we learned to loosen our grip and let them walk ahead.

It aches a little. Of course it does.

Because as happy as we are to see the lives they’re building, there’s a part of us that will always miss the days when they were building them under our roof.

But the noise doesn’t disappear. It just sounds different now.

Wedding toasts. New last names. New families. New traditions.

We’re learning to step back without stepping away. To see our children as adults while still remembering every version of who they’ve been.

Letting go isn’t the same as losing them. It’s just love learning a new shape.

Maybe that’s one of the unexpected gifts of getting older: we don’t just watch our children grow up. We get to keep growing right alongside them.

And if we’re lucky, we’ll get to dance in the middle of it all.
💛💛💛