How Many Times Have I Stared Out This Window?

I found myself staring out my kitchen window the other day. I wondered, “How many times have I stared out this window over the years looking at that tree?”

It’s my kitchen window and I found myself staring at a tree across the street as the leaves were turning color. A view I’ve seen probably thousands of times.

My wife and I bought our house in 1984. I always felt like we outgrew it in the mid-90s and early 2000s when we had four children living in this two-bedroom house but somehow we managed. We always loved the neighborhood and the neighbors and you just can’t beat the view as we are three houses up from the beach. We turned our front room into a bedroom and we had two boys upstairs and two girls downstairs. Oh and six people with one bathroom. Somehow we made it work.

Back to that window.

I remember thinking about some of the times I would just gaze out to see what was going on in the world. There was a great view of the foliage in the fall, I would look at the snow in the winter, wait for the buds in the spring and enjoy the shade in the summer when it was full and green.

I would look out the window while I waited and worried about one of our four teenage drivers getting home.

At least once a month I would gaze out that window looking for the full moon.

I would watch the rain fall and watch the snow accumulate. I would look out to see if the plow had made a pass down the street yet. 

In the summer we would keep an eye out for the ice cream man.

I’ve stared out that window while sipping my morning coffee and wondering what the day would bring. There were late nights when I’d be up with a fussy baby or sick toddler. Sometimes I was the sick person just praying I could get some sleep and feel better in the morning.

There have been way too many hours of rehab when I would gaze out the window wondering if I would ever be able to walk down that street again.

That tree has grown quite a bit in the almost 40 years we’ve been here and I’d like to think that I have too. I like the message that trees give to us. Yes we get tired in the autumn of life and at times the winter seems bleak and never ending. However once spring arrives we can blossom and be full again. We still have much to give.

So I guess I’ll keep gazing out that window and looking at that tree. It’s just a reminder that there is always someone or something watching over me.

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