Out of Africa

Look out Uganda - this star (he's a little older now and eats more often, I hope, with utensils) will be on his way soon. You get to keep him for just a short while, though - so don't charm him too much while he's there because this momma needs him back.

When he said that he wanted to study abroad, I encouraged him with as much courage as I could muster. I believe it's an incredible opportunity for college students to not only see the world but to also experience in a way not possible when they're older, more settled and only have two-weeks vacation time. I secretly hoped, though, that he'd choose a country in this hemisphere. After all, students from America study in Europe or Central America all the time and come home positively changed and it seems easy for their parents to keep in touch whilst they're away. Easy. Done. I can do that.

Matthew Thomas however, changed by his trip to the Dominican Republic the summer after his senior year, wanted to explore the economies of more third world countries. And for him, that meant a program he discovered in Uganda.
He wants to explore.

My explorer, will be in a country so far away and so foreign to me that I am at once thrilled and frightened. I am thrilled that he gets to explore Africa - or at least one part of this mysterious, 'dark continent'. And I am frightened that he will be on this mysterious, 'dark continent' that is so far away it will take him nearly a day to fly there. I am anxious to hear the stories he will share when he returns, see how the experience shapes and changes his perspectives, and to give him a hug of homecoming that will hopefully embarrass the crap out of him because I'll be crying and won't want to let go! (be ready, Matthew!)
But first, he has to board a plane on February 1 and leave. And then for three months, I will have to rely on Facebook chat and email to get a sense of how he his doing on the other side of the world.

I am sure I will cry a few times (please note the sarcasm oozing out of the phrase ' a few times') and I will be praying constantly for his safe arrival, time there and return home. Someone asked me recently, "How can you let him go?" and I cannot remember my reply. I do know, this, however, how can we, as parents, do anything but 'let our children go'. It's the truth of parenting - we raise them up to let them go. And Matthew chose to go to Africa; where he will be for three months soaking up all the knowledge and experience he can to bring back with him to add to the fabric that makes up this wonderful young man.

Part of me, however, still wishes he would have chosen to study abroad in Canada.

Comments

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Tough time to be a Pollyanna

Remember when 9/11 was just a date or a number you called in an emergency? Our lives changed dramatically post 9/11. For weeks after that September day, we seemed to walk around in a fog, like the haze that loomed over the now-fallen twin towers. I remember trying to minimize my obsession with the news, trying to keep the three little Piggins away from the enormity of the disaster. Remember when corona was simply a beer best served with a lime wedge? It now and forever will be instead associated with this virus that has upended our world in ways we could never have imagined. This tiny little, microscopic virus has brought the mighty to their knees. It has us quarantined and distancing socially (though I believe we've been doing this emotionally for years) and working from home. As anxiety peaks, our economy tanks. As toilet paper and hand sanitizer flies off the shelves, we are looking for new ways to stock our pantries. A good friend observed, "I never thought I'd...

Christmas cards

I sat down to reluctantly address Christmas cards. While our list has slowly dwindled through the years it's still a sizeable number, especially when it's viewed as a task approached reluctantly . Know what I mean? Some Christmas 'tasks' are a lot less taskier - like decorating or shopping or eating or opening presents. I mean, there's a whole different level of enthusiasm associated with 'tasks' that aren't viewed as tasks - I can't ever remember a time when I sat down to reluctantly open a present or eat a Christmas cookie! Anyway, I approached the Christmas card addressing with a less-than-positive, more bah-humbugish attitude. I poured a cup of coffee, grabbed the markers (I had to have a green, a red and a black one), the list and of course the envelopes (which John had already stuffed with the card). I turned on some Christmas music, but not too loud or it would distract me (and it really doesn't take much to distract me. Squirrel!),...

Roll out the barrel

It seems appropriate, in a strange-only in my head-sort of way, and keeping with my theme recently of rolling, that the song playing in my head lately is "Roll out the barrel . . ." As I've been rolling lately instead of walking, I seem to have added to my girth and it has landed, like a big ole roll around my mid-section. It's happened gradually over the last year and I attempted to: 1) Deny and/or; 2) Cover and/or; 3) Exercise and/or; 4) Change my diet. Well, the "And/Or Plan" wasn't working because my waist kept expanding and with that expansion my motivation (which is minimal on a good day!) was dwindling. So, with a roll around my midsection and "Roll out the barrel" playing in my head, I rolled into Weight Watchers three weeks ago. I had weighed myself at home and the number on that scale was sad - but I guess I should have had my glasses on when looking because the scale at WW showed me a number th...

The Glass is Half-Full

Search This Blog