My husband is a big fan of Iron and Wine's music, and it has basically become the background theme to our life with two boys. We listen to it in the car on any trip we take, and it has calmed our little one down quickly and easily since he was a newborn. If the boys are restless in the backseat, the peaceful tones of Sam Beam bring instant calm, like covering them with a warm blanket.
Beam himself is a father of five (and his wife is a midwife!) who lives near Austin, and I often imagine him singing these songs to his own children.
And so we listened to a favorite song, "Upward Over the Mountain," as we drove James to his first day of preschool this morning. We were all nervous and excited, and my husband and I both fought back tears as we watched our sweet, oldest son enter his classroom for the first time.
Mother remember the blink of an eye when I breathed through your body?
He went eagerly, stopping only to give us each a quick hug before wandering off with his teacher to find some blocks. And that was it. The first of many milestones as we watch our baby grow into a boy and, eventually, a man.
So may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten.
Little by little, he will walk away from us. That's the way it's supposed to work, and yet it is still so hard.
Sons are like birds, flying upward over the mountain.
