Wednesday Blog Hop - Drifting

My, oh my! What a December it has been! I was delighted at the beginning of the month to see the news that I'd won the Wednesday Blog Hop ad contest, and I want to say a huge thank you to Nicole Pyles for designing an excellent button for my blog. The hosts for this hop have displayed my button throughout this month, and I'm afraid to say that the postings have been pretty thin on the ground since.
Never mind that though, it's a busy month all round so a few things are bound to slip by. (Look at me, I'm growing!)

So, I was very grateful for the extension last week of the current Wednesday Blog Hop offering, which means apart from this one I'm only behind by two. Whoopee!

I have knocked something together for the previous two and I will share those with you over the next couple of days. Then I'll be all caught up ready for the first one of the new year, bring it on!

So, you should all be familiar with the concept of this blog hop by now, but for those of you that have just joined the rules are thus:

1. Look at the photo prompt on offer for inspiration, there's a different one each week. Incorporate this into the story somehow.

2. There are five words that also have to appear in the story.

3. The word limit is 500 words.

4. Link up your post with one of the wonderful hosts and then check out the others that have also contributed.

The picture for this week is:

 

And the five words: 

Lobster, remote control, luggage, ears, exam

My offering:

Drifting

Where does the time go? It only seemed a few months ago that we were bringing Mary home in her car seat, she barely filled it she was so tiny. Wrapped up in her little snow suit, just a pink face peeping out. And now she was standing in front of me, as tall as me, tapping her foot impatiently while I rooted through all of my old things. This was the most time I'd spent with her for quite a while I realised, and it was only because she wanted some of my old records to play round her friends house. She seemed amazed that I'd kept the records but not any kind of player.

I gazed at her now as she concentrated on her mobile phone. I didn't see her as the teenager before me though. My memory conjured up a different image, of a boisterous four year old waiting impatiently for me to get my boots on. Waving her little yellow umbrella in the air, laughing as the rain dripped in her ears. She couldn't wait to go off running and splashing through the puddles, holding my hand as we enjoyed even the bleakest of weather.

As she got older our time was spent in different ways. Wrestling over the remote control on a Friday evening, helping prepare for her music exams, listening to her cry over boys she thought she loved. Those days were drifting further behind us, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

In a few days she would be leaving us to go to university, her mountain of luggage already parked at the top of the stairs. So little time and she wanted to spend it with her friends. I felt a pang of jealousy at this decision, but she was leaving them behind as much as she was leaving us. I had to remember that it was no slight against her family, but it was hard to see her going off again, knowing her time was limited.

Going back into the house I sat down with the old family photo albums, smiling at the memories. So many of when she was a baby, growing fewer as she got older. The last few years have been holiday pictures, when we still used to go as a family. My favourite was of Mary looking red as a lobster. No amount of warning would make her put on cream, too much street cred for that.

Looking out the window I decided that whatever time she chose to spend with us this weekend I was going to make the most of it. Besides, there was always the holidays …

Word count: 453

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~