It has been 10 years since I wrote my first column. At that time, I had two little boys: a four year-old and a baby in a high chair. The column was about family prayer. Now, I still have a four-year-old and a baby in a high chair. And we still pray as a family.
I also have a 14-year-old, an 11-year-old, an eight-year-old, a six-year-old, and a two-year-old. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Over the years, I’ve shared stories from our house; I’ve even shared stories as “our house” changed. Since the column began, we’ve moved twice. I’ve shared birth stories (five of them) and death stories. I’ve let the world in on a corner of my heart and been blessed to be welcomed in the hearts of so many.
Others have shared stories, too. Most letters and e-mails are warm and uplifting. My favorite, above all, was from a woman who read a column about openness to life, had another baby despite her “advanced age,” and named her Elizabeth. I have even received a few phone calls. These are usually odd and angry. One, however, was a great blessing. A woman recognized in the course of several columns that she and I had a similar parenting style and held a similar educational philosophy. She tracked me down to inquire about a support group. I knew of none, but we became fast friends and she is my sixth child’s godmother.
When mothers of large families are writers and home schoolers, there are some things that don’t get done. In my basement, are boxes and boxes of family photos that I know will be incorporated into lovely photo albums one day. I just hope I can remember which kid is which when I finally have time to do it! Instead of photo albums, my children have over two hundred essays that chronicle their lives.
The children are usually pleased to see themselves in print. The running joke is that Patrick never thinks he has gotten enough ink and doesn’t like any column if it doesn’t mention him by name. In truth, it is probably Michael, the eldest, who has found himself in the paper most often but I sense that will change as he gets older. He’s been a good sport, but no teenager wants his life to be an open book. We’ll tread gently there.
When I first agreed to write this column, I was worried that I would run out of ideas. In truth, that never happens. A friend of mine who also writes columns told me that I would begin to look at life as a column. Everything and everyone would become potential column material. He was right. Of course, some ideas are rejected as soon as they present themselves to me, but something always happens within a two-week period, about which I can pray. I take an idea to the Lord, pray about it, let it run around in my head while I run around after my kids and then, when God presents a window of time, I write. For me, this “job” has been a privilege and a blessing. The window God opens is in the early morning. He usually grants just enough time to get the idea on paper in a furious pounding of the keyboard before the first child appears. Occasionally, the children awaken and stand next to me, one after another, peering over my shoulder and asking about breakfast. That is truly writing under pressure! More often than not, though, a column comes to a close as a baby “calls” to be nursed. So it is this morning. And so it’s been for ten years. Thanks for reading.
Elizabeth Foss is a freelance writer from Northern Virginia. Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home by Elizabeth Foss can be purchased at www.4reallearning.com.
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
