As I waved goodbye to one of my children, who was setting off back down South yesterday, watching her disappear down the country road, I turned back to close our gate slowly and stopped to take in this sign pinned onto our property …

“Children playing. Keep gate closed.”

It spoke volumes to me.

How soon they are grown.
How sad that a gate must contain them.
How important that we all remember to continue to play.
How wonderful to give a child freedom to develop an imagination.
How vital the imagination becomes when they have flown.
How incredible that nowadays most will not see the countryside as it once was.
How much play has shaped the lives of those who feel the real need to care.
And I thought so much more.

The words, the moment, the whole picture …
I felt it all deep in my soul.

Holly x

Children playing. Keep gate closed.