Each week my South African friend Vanessa and I post {this moment} on two continents! as a ritual to celebrate our friendship and the bond we share as we raise our boys "together" on opposite sides of the globe.
And if you can believe it ~ this post is the final post in our year of sharing {this moment} together and with our community of friends and family. It has been such a gift, and such an amazing blessing to experience this year somewhat simultaneously on opposite sides of the world. I felt disoriented at times when I imagined my "sister" experiencing the alternate seasonal reality of our own here in the northern hemisphere. Sometimes the only things that could have tied the thread of pictures together was the fact that our friendship has bridged the gap between the continents and across the opposite seasons. For example, when Aidan was shoveling sand in January, and Miles & Ruben were literally shoveling heaps of snow from our driveway. And yet we always seemed to connect across the distance with the universal themes that make us all human in this parenting game. We were both watching our children and learning endless amounts through the wonder in their eyes. Over the year we have loved them as only a parent can. We have watched as they delighted in music, experienced the amazement of imaginative play, or felt crushed by the defeats of their struggles.
This was the serendipity of the human experience that connected us of course; and subsequently made the synchronicity of our weekly updates, at times, fill me with disbelief. At the very beginning our first posts had our boys in stores with shopping carts. This was simple and seemingly unexceptional, but it continued to happen again and again! There was the concert in South Africa paired with the piano lesson in the US. There was also the week we both photographed our babies with our own siblings. Often we captured the love we feel for our children's fathers and the amazing relationships between father and son we watch unfold in front of us every day. Spending time in nature was also a common theme. Something I know that Vanessa and I are both cherishing the opportunity to share our own passion for the outdoors with our children.
So, it seems fitting, that our last post will end as we began. We were obviously "on the same page" as we often are. (As much as two friends can be that do not get to see or even talk to each other nearly enough. Two friends who have not even been able to meet the babies they carried through pregnancy together. Yet, with the beautiful ability of technology we have shared this epic year of moments ~ together ~ watching our boys grow before our eyes.)
The last post began when Vanessa sent me this photo of Aidan, who was watching a mongoose outside his window.
"We have really noticed the shift in the season... Windy as often is all
year, but with a chill in the air. Not surprising as the wind comes from
Antartica! Also, the evening sunset sun light is streaming through the playroom and
into the lounge as or did last Sept. This house is like living on a
clock face or sundial... The roundness and the angle of the sun is so
noticeable :)I love it! The patio is getting more sun as is the upstairs room which makes it cosier in winter."
When I sent the image to V she had this response;
"Wow.. That is amazing synchronicity again Sal!! Both great messengers too :)
So there you have it. The year in pictures. A year shared between friends watching their babies grow, and experiencing the world together through the wonder in their eyes.
I do not know what will come next. Whether it will include this space. Or if we will find another forum for our creativity and the passion we share about teaching our boys about the world around them. I will miss this weekly ritual, but I will forever cherish this experience. I look forward to the day our boys can meet and play together!
Inspired by Soulemama - {this moment} A Friday ritual. A
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