Why #savingsummer Is Good For My Soul

You might think that being a mama, I would love the fall season.

You’d be wrong.

I used to love it. It used to bring anticipation, excitement, even happiness.

I loved the colours as the leaves began to change. I loved the cool crisp air, just cool enough to wear a sweater, and not cold enough to need a coat.

I loved bringing out my fall clothes, getting my supplies ready for school…

I loved a lot about fall.

And even long after my childhood days and college days and university days were behind me, that feeling lingered as the season began to turn and summer came to a close.

But then everything changed one fall day, ten years ago.

Nine months of torture. Nine months of fighting, Nine months of treatment. And it came to a close. Just as all the students were heading off to school for the first weeks, and that crisp fall breeze was in the air, my father took his last breath.

Don’t ask me how ten years have gone by. I don’t know. I also don’t know how in ten years so much has happened without him here. The triumphs, the celebrations, the heartaches. It goes by in a fog. Even ten years later.

My children will go to school in the fall, as they have done for a few years now. They will have the anticipation, the excitement and the happiness.

And even though I have those feelings for them, I have so many more when the leaves start to fall, the days get shorter. As a mama, I will keep up appearances for the most part and celebrate with them, because they deserve that. But oh, how I wish I could skip fall and hold on to summer.

He loved summer.

He had a big garden with fresh produce. He jumped in the pool and enjoyed the sun. He cut sweet smelling roses as soon as they bloomed for my wonderful mother. He savoured summer.

So I thought, how can I do the same?

I started a hashtag a couple of years ago because of this, and now and I am bringing it back with more pictures.

#savingsummer

I know there are a lot of people similar to me that love summer for various reasons and want to hold on to it.

Nowadays we take pictures of everything with our phones, so here’s a chance to showcase our summers in a different way.

Those last days before school starts always make me second guess if we did anything fun or memorable…well, no more. I want to preserve those memories in a collection of pictures.

And inevitably, when you look back at your summer months, you discover you actually did A LOT, but perhaps never took a good long moment to acknowledge it. It also happens to feel that way when you have little people saying “I’m bored!” if they are not being entertained for 5-10 seconds of any given day (i.e. every day).

So here is the chance to prove to them, to yourself and to the world that your summer has had substance! And who knows? Maybe when I’m done with the sharing, those pictures can be part of a greater memory (photo album, framed piece on the wall..). I’m tagging my pictures as a ‘sand bucket list’ since that is what I called it years ago. I think it’s a sweeter way to describe a summer bucket list.

Will you join me?

All you have to do is include the hashtag #savingsummer with a picture you share on social media (be sure to tag me in it if you want me to see it too).

I’ll be on the search to see your pictures and strike up conversations online too.

Remember, your pictures don’t have to be monumental activities our world travelling tours. The point is to savour all the moments (big and small) that make you completely in love with summer.

I’ll be posting as long as I can, to remember my happiest season.

And I truly hope this can help you savour your summer as well.

To see other pictures I have done with the #savingsummer hashtag, you can visit my Pinterest board with the same name. You can also search for the hashtag here, where I’ve written more about this topic.