by Stephanie Toews, Executive Editor

Built by Community

"The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and be stretched large by them."

— Francis Weller

I've been pondering this quote lately because the longer I live, the more I realize that life is rarely either/or. More often, it is both. Gratitude can exist where grief resides. Joy can live alongside pain. Fear can exist alongside trust. 

I find myself living that tension right now. Next week, we will take our son to college. At the same time, our daughter is beginning her senior year of high school. And while I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the beautiful privilege of being their mother, there is also an ache I didn't quite expect. 

There is something bittersweet about loving a person so deeply that watching them grow and become their own person feels both like the greatest joy and the greatest heartbreak. For so many years, motherhood has been about holding on. Holding their hands. Holding them close. Holding their worries, their dreams, their disappointments, and their little pieces of the world. 

And then, somewhere along the way, the work becomes learning to let go. Not because we love them any less, but because we love them enough to let them become who they were created to be. 

So where fear exists, I am choosing trust. Trust that their roots run deeply. Trust that the seeds planted in these beautiful, messy, blessed years will continue to grow in their own perfect timing. Trust that no matter where life takes them, they will always know the way home. 

Maybe that's the beauty of this life. We don't have to choose between the ache and the joy. We can carry both. And perhaps that is what September has always been about. New beginnings. Changing seasons. Letting go of what was while making room for what comes next. 

Flip through this issue and take a little of that grace with you this season. Hug your kindergartner a little longer at drop-off. Savor one more weekend with your senior before the calendar starts moving too fast. Or simply notice the season changing around you and allow yourself to be grateful for exactly where you are. Because someday, this season we are living will become a memory. 

Happy Fall! 

Love, 

Originally printed in the September 2026 issue of Simply Local Magazine

Read this article in the digital issue of Simply Local here!

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