Backspin Nov_2018 | Page 9

letter As we close out the year here at the Narro house, we are going through tons of changes. Our long-time copy-editor/eldest son just moved way out west ... to Houston. It might as well be China for me. We miss him. While Jake will tell you himself that he constantly asked Shayne when he was going to move out, I don’t think he realized how traumatic the move actually would be. We’re both feeling the emptiness of this nest, but we’re loving that he’s enjoying his big boy job – and we’re double in love with the big boy money that we’re hoping steers him away from what is left of ours! The youngest son moved the opposite direction. Now in Mobile, Harris is a welder in training, and he is also loving his life in the paycheck world. His twin Blane, now working full time in the boutique world, the perfect place for her, is in high glam every day. The youngest daughter Olivia is working hard at LSU to maintain her near 4.0 GPA. I wish I could dive into her brain and see all those gears circling. Smart little one, she is. And then there’s Alex. Our oldest. The oldest daughter, the oldest, period. She’s getting married. And that means I’m going to be a mother-in-law. Wow. Everyone calls her the “good child.” She thinks Jake is the most wonderful person who ever walked the planet, and she has loved me since about a year after we met when she finally understood I wasn’t there to steal her daddy from her. This child loves to her core. Aaron Pool is a lucky man. He’s also a golfer, and he’s played with Shayne several times. I’m happy for them. Sort of. I’m looking forward to the beautiful wedding they’ll have at Carter Plantation, and I think we are all going to have a great night. But this wedding represents to me what it does for all moms. It’s the close of one chapter and the opening of another. My friend Carol Madere at Southeastern told me once that God gives us teenagers so we can let them go. I have to say that our children, for the most part, were pretty easy, and letting them go isn’t as easy as we thought. And Aaron is a pretty cool dude. I should be thrilled. But there is a little something inside me that still sees her in the backseat riding home from Disney World, jumping in the backyard on the trampoline or cuddled up with Jake watching him cry through Brother Bear. She can’t wait until Nov. 17. She wants to be Mrs. Pool so badly, and she’ll have that. I want to put her on a plane and fly her back to England where we spent three summer trips together. I want to color pictures of dinosaurs and let her fix my hair. I want to tell her to shut up, get in the car and go to church. And like it. Wasn’t that just yesterday that I was doing that? She has truly become one of my dearest friends. So hear me now, if she ain’t happy for the rest of her life, I’m gonna ... Amber 9