Because I didn't realize it until I processed this photo.

This picture of my brother and sister and I was taken this past weekend on my sister's birthday. I love how our arms are around each other and we're facing a gorgeous sunset on a perfect day.

We were pretty normal siblings growing up, not always getting along, but once we grew up a little, we became tighter than tight. People would ask my parents what they did, for the secret sauce of how they raised us that we were still so close. We'd talk about everything and nothing together. We'd play, laugh, cry, discuss, argue, vent, and keep each other awake on long sleepy drives home.

Things have changed a bit since both Peder and I got married. Our bond is still there, but our priorities have shifted and rearranged as we build families of our own.

Facing the sunset made me think of the endings of old things and the beginnings of new things, about how the new things are often only possible when the old things end, about transitions and how they can sneak up on you and take you by surprise. I was thinking symbolically until it became personal and realized the transitions we are facing as individuals and what that means for the bond we have together.

Kaari just turned 30.
Peder and his wife Annie are moving to Texas in a few weeks.
And I am about to have my first baby, a boy with a very special heart.

When I processed this photo, I realized this may have been the last time for a long while that the three of us would be together. And I began to cry because something good is ending, and something entirely new is beginning that none of us knows about yet. The sun has to set before the new day can start.