{"id":12601,"date":"2014-05-14T13:05:06","date_gmt":"2014-05-14T19:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=12601"},"modified":"2014-05-14T13:05:06","modified_gmt":"2014-05-14T19:05:06","slug":"when-they-gotta-fly-you-have-to-let-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=12601","title":{"rendered":"When They Gotta Fly, You Have to Let Them"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Tom<\/a>A Boomer’s Journal<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Tom Anselm \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

She was barely 2 years old when she put on her sisters purple and pink two-piece swim suit, reached into the drawer for the pool passes and walked the sidewalk of New Halls Ferry Road down to the Barrington Downs pool. By herself. At rush hour. Jill came home from work about 5 and found the rest of the family glued to the TV, watching the devastation wrought by the 100 Years Flood of 1993.<\/p>\n

“Hi. Where’s Joanie?” she asked.\u00a0 “She was right here\u2026 a second ago,” we all answered. Which set off a panic that lasted for barely 10 minutes but seemed like a lifetime as we scoured the house and then scattered into the streets in search.\u00a0 Joey finally saw some kids coming from the pool, and they said “yeah, we saw a little kid in a swim suit\u2026why?”<\/p>\n

And there she was. At the lifeguard table. Smiling. No big deal.<\/p>\n

We laughed, we cried.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I share this\u00a0 tale of fatherly neglect because this same little wanderer graduates tomorrow with her degree in Early Childhood Education, and soon after will be heading west to work in the YMCA of the Rockies summer program.\u00a0 This time, with her own swim suit, we presume.<\/p>\n

\n

It marks the end of an era for Jill and I.\u00a0 The baby, the last one, the caboose.\u00a0 Finally and effectively leaving the nest.\u00a0 We are so proud of her, as we are of all our children.\u00a0 They are bold, confident, strong.\u00a0 They have been travelers all, from back-packing through Europe, to jetting over oceans right and left, north to the Windy City and west to the beckoning coastline of Southern California.\u00a0 And now, off to the mountains.<\/p>\n

The world sure is a smaller place than when I was young. It just never really occurred to me to live somewhere else. Heck, I’ve live in North County since age 5, and the lovely Jill her whole life. So there’s that.<\/p>\n

Still, I can understand the kids’ wanderlust. They have come to know the world in ways we had never experienced, through movies, television, and the vast array of social media.\u00a0 And it has turned out to be a good thing for us, in a way. We got to see a lot of places we may have never gone to, like Santa Monica, and Venice Beach and the wonders of Chicago.\u00a0 We still laugh at the time when we first went to see our oldest there.\u00a0 We came around the turn onto Lakefront Drive, just as the fog was lifting. We were awestruck by the abject beauty of hundreds of white sails shimmering in the sun against the blue water and sky.\u00a0 We felt like Ma and Pa Kettle. And good old Joanie cracked us up by calling that great body of water “Lake Michigan Impossible.”<\/p>\n

Of course, seeing your children leave for good has it’s downside.<\/p>\n

The world may be much smaller, but it is also a whole lot scarier.\u00a0 First, we have them all snuggled in this nice little\u00a0 nest. Then, we must open our hands, and let them fly away. And now the final birdie is taking wing.\u00a0 I mean, how do we know something bad isn’t going to happen?<\/p>\n

Well, we don’t.\u00a0 But we have faith, and so we smile bravely.<\/p>\n

As true empty nesters now, we will have a house that goes well beyond our needs.\u00a0 It is as great place, the one spot where all our kids have grown up. A living, breathing monument to our life as parents.\u00a0 Why, we even just got a new fence to replace the pickets we put up 21 years ago to prevent further escapes of the young Joanster. It currently keeps the grandkids in check.\u00a0 For now. But, the question beckons, is there something else down the road for us in a few years?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

And so we reflect.\u00a0 Our kids all are adults, have been for sometime. We still need them and they us. But in a different way, now. Call it an Evolution of Love, if you will.<\/p>\n

Therefore, on this bittersweet occasion, we say “Faretheewell, last little one. Be safe. Embrace the adventure.” Just don’t forget to call when you get there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Boomer’s Journal By Tom Anselm \u00a0 She was barely 2 years old when she put on her sisters purple and pink two-piece swim suit, reached into the drawer for the pool passes and walked the sidewalk of New Halls Ferry Road down to the Barrington Downs pool. By herself. At rush hour. Jill came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columnists","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen They Gotta Fly, You Have to Let Them - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=12601\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When They Gotta Fly, You Have to Let Them - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Boomer’s Journal By Tom Anselm \u00a0 She was barely 2 years old when she put on her sisters purple and pink two-piece swim suit, reached into the drawer for the pool passes and walked the sidewalk of New Halls Ferry Road down to the Barrington Downs pool. 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