Summer 17: In Memorium

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Let us gather together to say farewell to a great season, our dearly departed friend: Summer.

She brought warmth and sunshine, welcoming each day with endless possibilities…

In the Beginning

She emerged many months ago, at the release of school, new and naive, with so much time and potential ahead of her. She had every opportunity to accomplish so much in a short time. A model of ambition. She planned to live life to the fullest extent possible by squeezing every last moment out of everyday. She dreamed of creating a lifelong passion in her children by taking them adventuring, traveling, exploring and memory making.

But even the most ambitious of us are only given so many hours in the day.

Eventually, her time here started to grow shorter, slowly letting the darkness take over more and more moments each day. Finally, she too succumbed to changing times, her time here setting over the horizon.

Goodbye To Summer

But let us not be sad, for while she was here with us, we lived each day in her warm embrace and we take her sweet songs and bright memories with us into the next season of our lives.

Let us be happy for our dear friend, for she is moving on to clearer skies. And even though we can’t see her more than 300 days a year, shining down on us, we hold a piece of her brightness in our hearts.

We will never be able to fill the vacant place left by Summer, but we will learn to survive, we will learn to adapt. Huddled together around Pumpkin Spice Lattes, we will take solace in the warmth of each other. We will visit pumpkin patches and balloon festivals ingraining ourselves in our community.  

We will embrace the cold days, endure the long nights and know that time heals all. Eventually, we will start to enjoy other activities again. Maybe we’ll go sledding, drink hot chocolate and light candles.  Then, one day the birds will return, the trees will bud and the flowers will bloom again. Finally, the day will come that the sun will start to shine again and a new light with burn within us.

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

Summer was preceded in season by her young daughter Spring. She leaves behind another daughter, Autumn and a son, Winter. In lieu of flowers, Summer asked that bulbs be planted in her memory to remind her friends that Summer springs eternal.

Until we meet again…

Anyone else having a hard time admitting that Summer is really gone? Are you pining for the last dog days of summer or in full Halloween mode?  Are you refusing to put your swimsuit away or will you be sipping hot cider searching for the best Autumn leaves viewing day trips for kids?

What is your favorite Colorado season? Tell us about it in the comments.

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Rachel, Senior Writer
Rachel is a native Coloradoan, though originally from the Western Slope. She followed her husband Chris to his hometown of Colorado Springs after having met in engineering school at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. Together they have four beautiful children, Tommy (2011), Tazzy (2014), Zach (2015) and Zinny (2018). Having a young and active family keeps Rachel on her toes trying to find ways to keep the ship sailing while still meeting all the demands of motherhood. Though Rachel loves her most important role as Mommy most, she also works full time outside the home as a Water Resources Engineer for the Colorado Division of Water Resources. This role helps keep her life centered, bouncing from detailed and complex discussions relating to Colorado Water Law with her husband ( a mechanical engineer) to daycare and preschool drop off and pick up schedules, while being constantly interrupted by the equally complex musings of her 4 year.