Empty Nest
2011-08-19 - by
This is a big day for my wife Gwyn and me. We become empty nesters. We take our daughter to Appalachian State for her first day of college.
Our son was born 22 years, two months and two days ago. Every day since, our daily lives have focused on James and Maggie: feeding them, changing them, getting them off to school, getting them home from school, feeding them, watching them drive off to school, waiting for them to get back home, feeding them – and, always, worrying and wondering: Are we doing the right thing as parents?
I had lunch yesterday with a friend who is at the other end of this journey. He has a 13-month old boy. He talked about how he and his wife read countless books about how to parent: Do you spank them or not? How do you deal with a willful, impatient child? What school should we send them too?
You always wonder, and you never know exactly what the right thing to do is.
It seems like it never ends. Until it does.
So today there will be sadness. It will be there when we leave her in Boone and when we get back to what will seem like a very empty and silent home.
But, more than that, there is joy. And pride. Whatever we did right or wrong, we raised two wonderful young adults.
James is living in Wilmington. He started out with an interest in politics and polling. He worked on the Elon Poll, and he did a summer internship with a pollster in Washington. He has decided that his true calling is sports broadcasting, so he’s pursuing that now. To give himself cred and experience, he has started his own blog about college football, Southern Saturday. Check it out. He has a lot more talent and writing skill than his father did at that age, and I thought I was pretty good. And he is a lot funnier than I am.
Maggie wants to be a teacher, specializing in early childhood and perhaps children with special needs. She did an internship this summer at the Frankie Lemmon School, working with children with developmental disabilities. She says it changed her life. Last summer, she worked at Blueprint with Stephanie Bass. She has a big heart – and big dreams. She is smart, strong and spirited. She organized and was president of the Young Democrats at St. Mary’s School, a Republican bastion.
Both of them care intensely about politics. They make me look conservative. And they’re willing to work. Both have volunteered in campaigns and plan to again in 2012.
Both of them handle themselves well with adults. They don’t look at their feet and respond with one-word grunts. They shake hands, look you in the eye and talk to you. That makes us proud.
As does everything about them.
So forgive me this personal note today. My heart is full.
Posted in General
Empty Nest
2011-08-19/
This is a big day for my wife Gwyn and me. We become empty nesters. We take our daughter to Appalachian State for her first day of college.
Our son was born 22 years, two months and two days ago. Every day since, our daily lives have focused on James and Maggie: feeding them, changing them, getting them off to school, getting them home from school, feeding them, watching them drive off to school, waiting for them to get back home, feeding them – and, always, worrying and wondering: Are we doing the right thing as parents?
I had lunch yesterday with a friend who is at the other end of this journey. He has a 13-month old boy. He talked about how he and his wife read countless books about how to parent: Do you spank them or not? How do you deal with a willful, impatient child? What school should we send them too?
You always wonder, and you never know exactly what the right thing to do is.
It seems like it never ends. Until it does.
So today there will be sadness. It will be there when we leave her in Boone and when we get back to what will seem like a very empty and silent home.
But, more than that, there is joy. And pride. Whatever we did right or wrong, we raised two wonderful young adults.
James is living in Wilmington. He started out with an interest in politics and polling. He worked on the Elon Poll, and he did a summer internship with a pollster in Washington. He has decided that his true calling is sports broadcasting, so he’s pursuing that now. To give himself cred and experience, he has started his own blog about college football, Southern Saturday. Check it out. He has a lot more talent and writing skill than his father did at that age, and I thought I was pretty good. And he is a lot funnier than I am.
Maggie wants to be a teacher, specializing in early childhood and perhaps children with special needs. She did an internship this summer at the Frankie Lemmon School, working with children with developmental disabilities. She says it changed her life. Last summer, she worked at Blueprint with Stephanie Bass. She has a big heart – and big dreams. She is smart, strong and spirited. She organized and was president of the Young Democrats at St. Mary’s School, a Republican bastion.
Both of them care intensely about politics. They make me look conservative. And they’re willing to work. Both have volunteered in campaigns and plan to again in 2012.
Both of them handle themselves well with adults. They don’t look at their feet and respond with one-word grunts. They shake hands, look you in the eye and talk to you. That makes us proud.
As does everything about them.
So forgive me this personal note today. My heart is full.
Posted in General