Spread your wings and fly

This week is going to be a bittersweet week for me. Colin, my 19 year old son, is moving out of the house, out of state, and across the country to Georgia. 

I know parents go through this phase if or when their kids head off to college. But, with college, there is always the assumption that the kids will return during the Holidays and the summer. 

But for Colin, he's moving out. Across the country. And I'm not sure when I will see him again. 

Being 19, and a guy, Colin seems to be experiencing that need, that drive, that many young men have: the "I need to get the f**k out of the house and away from my parents!". My brothers had it to a certain extent, and went to college as their remedy for that need. Colin has not gone to college, and has worked a series of part time jobs since high school. Plus, as I transition from the house where Colin grew up to a new life with Brenda, it's a good time for him to cut the cord himself, and get out on his own.

But I see in him that need to spread his wings. To find himself. To set up his own identity. And like most (if not all) parents, I am concerned. Yet, I am not. Colin is smart. Colin makes plans. And this move is not a whim: he's been planning this for nearly 2 years. 

And so I will make a nice "last night at home" dinner for him tonight. And probably order pizza for tomorrow. And he flies out Tuesday.

I only hope and pray that the life lessons he will be learning will truly prepare him for an independent life.

Colin, in front of the General Sherman Tree, Sequoia National Park, November 2017