The Bird has wings!

Today we took Sarah, our oldest, to college. My, what an adventure the last year has been leading up to this day. We talk about pushing the bird out of the nest as a common occurrence, yet it does not feel common and has many perspectives and pieces to it.

Start with the young adult bird, there is some fear involved for sure, but there is also excitement.
They won't really "push" me out of the nest will they? How about riding on your back for a while? Or, don't they offer training wings, with ropes or something? Well the idea of getting out of this crowded nest IS appealing, and the grass over in the next field does look a lot greener, Those other birds do look like they are having fun…..……Do I really have to feed myself?, what do I do if it rains? Don't they have a "Worms to Go" delivery service? Do I have to be an early bird, or is that just a nasty rumor. How about the"sleep till noon" bird gets the worm, now you are talking!!

Then there is the papa bird, eager to see the fruits of all those years of training.
Hmmm, do we use our arms or our feet when we push them out of the nest??? Why does one little bird need so much stuff? You want me to bring it where? When I was young I flew against the wind, in freezing cold, for 50 miles to….Yea dad, we've heard it before, get real.

Then the momma bird, yes the MOM.
She can't really be old enough for this, can she? Can we at least look into those Training Wings? How about a few more years of flying lessons? Those other birds are not very nice, you need to be careful, be careful of what you drink, you're not really going to wear that, now papa,…. she is only young, and speaking of papa, remember what you were like when you were young? And don't give me that upwind story, I know better! Did I tell you about boys…..

The truth is, change is hard, but necessary and no one does it perfectly. The young adults still need their parents and the parents can still learn from the young (weather they care to admit it). We all need to realize that we can't do this on our own. We will fail and we will need forgiveness. We will need hope for a new day. We need to learn and grow. Most of all we all need Love. Love like that of one who is willing to lay down his life for others. That is what real parenting is.

For Pictures of our adventure in Vermont see:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Bleavins/Vermont2008