I went to our hometown bakery today to get some eclairs and donuts, as an end of the school year treat for my youngest children.

It’s something I have done many times. 

I ran into the bakery, on a mission, as if to cross it off of my to do list. 

I chose 2 eclairs, 2 cream filled bismarks and then… 2 sprinkled donuts. 

And then it hit me. We always ordered “sprinkled donuts”. 

The lady at the counter chatted nicely, as I told her why I was there. 

“I’m getting some “end of the year” treats for my “little” ones”, I said politely. And I realized, they weren’t so little anymore and this would be the last “end of the year” donut run that I would ever do for my son, who graduates high school this week. 

Huh. 

And the tears came. I had been wondering where they were. I mean, after all, I feel like I spent a good 6 months with swollen eyes before the other 2 graduated. 

I explained to the lady that when my children were younger, this bakery was a special place for us to go. 

They’d choose wisely…1 treat each. We’d walk there and back, anticipating the delightful donuts the whole way. 

What that lady doesn’t know, and what I chose not to share, was how many memories this last trip brought back to me. 

Back then,I had been recently divorced, in the beginning of the recession, fighting to survive on my commission based career, with 4 young children.  

Those donuts symbolized normalcy. 

You see, we used to get donuts every weekend as a family before it all changed. And it was so important for me to somehow keep that alive. 

So, today, as I walked out of that bakery, I burst into tears. 

Surprisingly, not out of sadness, but for the success. The growth, the amazing changes that have come from it all. 

My children are no longer “little ones”, I survived the recession and divorce, and my children showed me…once again….how very crucial the simplest things in life can be. 

Thank you, Nory, Lamb, Sir and Goo… for the absolute honor of being your mother.

 I would scrounge up those quarters, eat off of the plastic utensils and never stop fighting…all over again, for you❤

Who would have ever imagined, all those years ago, how much a simple trip to the bakery would mean?

And once again, I wouldn’t change a thing. 

It is truly the smallest things that take up the most room in your heart.