It is the last day of summer, and we are weaving one final, golden thread into the tapestry we have created over the last three months...memories and moments interlocking, their messy stitches sewn by clumsy hands into a beautiful blanket that looks a lot like love and sunshine. I want to wrap myself in it, feel the weight and warmth of the memories against my skin, if only for a moment. But when dawn breaks on a new day, I will fold the beautiful tapestry neatly into a perfect square, gently smooth its fabric with my hands, and tuck it into a corner of my soul for safe-keeping.

 

It is summer's last hurrah, and we cling desperately to her skirt-tail, running sun-drenched and water-logged through the green grass. Little girl laughter echoes through the yard, high-pitched squeals creating a tinkling melody, like wind through chimes. Hotdogs sizzle on the grill, and ice cream fills sugar cones, the sweetness turning to liquid and dripping down little fingers and chins beneath the white-hot sun. We play late into the evening, soaking up all of the "lasts"...one last run through the sprinklers, one last splash in the baby pool, one last chalk masterpiece displayed brazenly across the driveway. We roast marshmallows by a backyard fire, and tell ghost stories until the sky makes way for the moon. It is dark...and just like that, summer is gone. She heaves her last breath...a long sigh of the perfect afternoon. Tomorrow I will pack up the bits and pieces...the swimsuits and the sidewalk chalk; the pool towels and the sunscreen. We will turn our minds toward fall, with its pumpkins and Halloween costumes; warm blankets and crunchy leaves. Summer has come and gone, never to return...but these memories, lovingly hand-woven into a beautiful tapestry...they are mine forever.