Three Days

Getting away from the warmth of the city to the northern edge of the state gave me time.

Returning to trees full when they’d only just been budding days before feels like I was gone longer.

Three days.

Are the boys taller, their hair longer?

I rub sunscreen into the arms of my youngest before he heads to school today. When did he get sun?

My boys are different. I am different. The oldest is quiet. Is he normally this quiet?

I step back from the three and watch weeks fly by, months, years. Is this how it will feel when they walk across the podium at college graduation?

They’re taller. Hair is longer. Is he quieter than he was before?

Who are these boys that I am helping to raise? Who will they be in the weeks and months to come?

I think I’ll stay for awhile here with them. I will lean in a little more closely. I will watch and memorize and breathe in their childhood.

I don’t want to miss the in between time from bud to leaf.