I am the Mom of a Teenager

This week I became the mom of a teenager. On the eve of her thirteenth birthday, Madi promised me that she wouldn't "morf" into a typical teen over night. Actually, I asked her to promise. And although I realize my request was quite selfish (and probably incredibly naive), I have great hopes that she will keep her promise.

I get kind of emotional when I think about how quickly time is passing. And so instead of spending this post giving voice to those thoughts, I want to record a perfect day I had with Madi.

On a Tuesday in July this past summer, I left the four youngest children with Holly Davis (bless her!) in her lovely home in Cheltenham, and Madi and I drove up to Northern England. Our final destination was the Preston Temple, 3 hours away, where Madi was scheduled to join a group from Scotland to do Temple Work in the evening. When I looked at the map as I planned our day trip, I realized we would be very close (just 30 minutes out of the way) to the Chatsworth House. This is the house used in the most recent Pride and Prejudice movie as Mr. Darcy's Pemberly.  I couldn't resist. We made a side-trip.

The sky was gray and the air was heavy with drizzly mist. But we both audibly gasped when we rounded the corner and saw Chatsworth, perfectly situated, amongst the rolling green hills. White sheep dotted the greenest green grass with white. 

 

With only an hour to spare, we took a whirlwind tour of the house. We had to ask one of the guides to direct us to the veiled statue "Femme Voilee" that Kiera Knightly looks at so intently during her tour of Pemberly. 

 

There it was, tucked away in a sunfilled alcove of the library. The statue was so hidden, in fact, that we almost missed it. 

 

Following our tour, I bought a pastie (still warm) wrapped in brown paper, and we walked the grounds. We both wanted to stay and explore, having only scratched the surface.  I hope to get the chance to come back and spend a couple days walking the trails and touring the house and gardens at a much slower speed. But even this single hour with Madi - sharing my love of England and Jane Austen (and wonderfully, she loves them too) - was wonderful.

I purchased a CD in the gift shop of the Chatsworth acapella choir. As we drove from Chatsworth to Preston, England, angelic voices serenaded us. The scenery was breathtaking. Stone fences created a grid of gray across the luscious green hills. The oldness and beauty of it tugged on my heart and filled me with what I can only describe as a strange homesickness. 

We saw the Preston Temple from the highway. A gray stone building that seemed almost white against the gray sky. Another beautiful building - but beautiful for much different reasons. My personal journal has my feelings recorded about this experience. Let me just say here, the joy was like a glimpse into heaven. And in spite of loving our tour of Chatsworth, we both agreed that the temple was the most beautiful place we'd ever been together.  
 

There are very few perfect days. But I suspect, when I'm an old lady and I look back on my life, this very well may be as close to perfect as it is going to get. 

It has been a privilege to spend the past 13 years with Madi. And I look forward to an eternity more to share.