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 Maria DiGiorgio is a lifelong New Yorker, who currently resides in Commack, with her family. She is a devoted wife and mother, an educator and designer. Maria is active in her community, as a PTA mom and Girl Scout leader. She has a passion for interior decorating and loves to garden. She is an avid reader, and enjoys writing about life experiences and parenthood, as well as her personal observations about the world around us. |
| The late, great John Lennon is noted for this quote, although it was previously uttered by Allen Saunders, a comic strip writer. The sentiments, however, ring true, just the same. My life, as of late, has taken on a pace that would give even the most fit individual a racing heartbeat and a steady stream of palpitations. I don’t know exactly how or when things started to shift, and what was a busy, full life became a constant treadmill I can’t seem to extricate myself from. Not a day goes by without appointments, commitments or tasks that slowly drain my energy and my spirit. It has gotten to the point where even the “good stuff” starts to feel overwhelming, pressure-filled and just not much fun anymore. I am not depressed, rather, highly stressed. My days and my thoughts are preoccupied with to-do lists, deadlines to meet, phone calls to make and seemingly countless things to do. Life can ebb and flow, like much else. It can be extremely hectic or feel like it’s stuck in neutral. For myself, and my family, we are in high gear – my daughter will be graduating high school and moving on and out, to attend college. I have never had the recurring thought of: “Where did the time go?” resonate and replay over and over in my mind and heart, more than it has in this past year! In what feels like a literal blink of an eye, things went from fairly static and somewhat predictable, to frenzied, chaotic and ever changing. Nothing and no one can really prepare you for this emotionally charged, high-paced free-fall from what was your life, previously. The range of emotion spans the spectrum from joy and excitement, to fear and angst. The closest thing to this emotional rollercoaster was felt when we were pregnant, and awaiting her arrival – now we are awaiting her departure, and it is HARD!!! There is comfort in knowing we are not alone. Her entire graduating class is along for the ride. Although circumstances may differ from family to family, the underlying enormity of this unchartered territory remains largely the same. It is a leap of faith for both parent and child, and with all that I have already mentioned, ironically, it is a leap we are both so very privileged to be taking. All roads have led to this point on our collective journey, and we must summon the knowledge we have gained along the way, with the wisdom of our hearts, to remind ourselves we are exactly where we should be and will prevail and even thrive, as a result. No one ever said parenting would be easy – loving, guiding and providing for our children is effortless, in comparison to letting them go and enabling them to soar free and unencumbered, from the nest. This marks a moment in time that will forever change the dynamic of our family. As parents, we have had to summon courage we never even knew we were capable of, and now, we embark on a journey like no other. When all is said and done, we can feel proud of who our children are becoming, as human beings, and what they will do to make this world a better place for us all! |
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20 lucky winners will win $500 each in prizes totaling $10,000. 