knock me over with a feather...

today, this little guy is getting checked in for his first year at the University of North Texas. i could pull out all of my cliches and say that it seems like it was just yesterday that he was playing with tractors on a dirt pile, but all of my cliche-remembering energy has been focusing on the fact that i am so emotional about this passage in my nephew's life. the past few months have been a roller coaster of emotions - starting a full-time job that is not my passion, adding a part-time job that is completely my passion, a surprise 75th birthday party for my mom, the aforementioned little guy and his family visiting us, an emergency hospital stay for the aforementioned seventy five year old, a back injury for me... and a sprinkle of drama just to make it interesting. and through all of this i have been thinking about my life as a single woman, who has never been married or had children. much of that ruminating was a result of reading this book. in the book, miller talks about how a good story has hard stuff that the main character has to go through. all i can say is that right now i must be working on an amazing story. and as i thought about the little guy starting his new journey, i realized that i am fearful of that journey taking him emotionally farther away from me. because i don't have my own kids, i treasure each of my nieces and nephews and hope that we will develop the kind of relationship that will last long after the college textbooks are discarded and well into the time they are dropping their own little guy (or girl) off at college. so yeah, you could have knocked me over with a feather this afternoon when tears came quickly as i read facebook posts about packing and getting him ready to go. needless to say, his younger brother does not share my sentiment...
be brave, friends...
<3 anna