Full Circle

BC...before children....we may or may not have mocked houses with old, rotting pumpkins on their front porch. Who am I kidding? We mocked and we mocked hard. "Shame on them" we would tsk, "It's the middle of November!" or "Man, they are laaaaazy!". BC...yes, we remember those naive days well. And although now happily AC...after children...it is also the moment when innocence packed its bags and fled. Our understanding of perished pumpkin porches has changed...dramatically. When carving a pumpkin with a child, not only is a jack-o-lantern created...but also a person...or in our case, a family. A family of jacks with names...none other than our own: Daddy. Mommy. Hugh. Arlo.We underestimated how heartbreaking a 3 year old would take it when told to throw away said family. He sees beyond the sunken mouths and the moldy eye sockets. He scolds the hungry squirrels as they gnaw away at his 'Hugh'. He protects and cherishes with such significance, that we have now met our own mockery face to rotting face. And it ain't pretty...
xo