Letting Go

It is official.  My boy is heading out.  He turned 18 on Christmas Eve, got a phone call with a job offer from my brother, Mike, and bought a plane ticket to Austin for January 14.  As a parent, letting go is difficult. It is emotional.  It is also an exciting time.  We are happy to see him moving on, leaving his time of life as a boy and becoming a man. My friend, Becky, and I were talking the other day about how we are one of the few cultures that doesn't have a celebration or any kind of rite of passage for our kids.  I wonder if perhaps that makes it more difficult for our kids to break free or for us as parents to let go.  But all kids leave home eventually to pursue a life of their own.  I am happy for my boy and curious about how this next season of our lives will look.  It will be a strange thing to only have 2 kids at home.  Anyway, here are a few photos of Shelby over the years.  They make me smile.