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As the single mom of a 18-year just about ready to graduate ... How did life get sooo busy?! Award ceremonies, literary soirees, pre-prom, prom, post-prom, grad bash, band banquet, band concert, concert in the park, etc. etc.

Wasn't life much simpler when WE graduated from high school?

And ... coupled with training, his job/my new job ... life can get so overwhelming. I now understand why there were big families. So people could share the load.

So all, I may have been out of this site ... but I've managed to keep it mind!

Happy May all ... Spring has finally come to Michigan!


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In Beauty,

Jackie

Busy weekend chauffering the kids around. I suspect that I will miss them when they go off at 18 though.

Question: What's the most challenging in your life?

Answer: (for the those with kids, the majority said) being a parent.

Question: What's the most rewarding?

Answer: (a lesser majority) Being a parent.

(Results of a survey.)

Happy spring, Jackie. Try to enjoy the soon to be "empty nest."

david

[This message has been edited by david (edited May 06, 2001).]

Thanks, David,

Hardest thing about being a mom of an 18-year old ... letting go.

Jackie

Tell me about it, Jackie.

My baby, 17, is also graduating from High School. One minute you want to kick them out the next you don't want them to leave.

The eldest still at home, 19, isn't always at home, and when the youngest is on the road with the high school jazz band, and the wife and I are alone, we look at each other and wonder what to do? What's left? Our job is done.

Our place was often grand central station for all the town's kids whether the h.s. hockey team (both played) the h.s. baseball team (the oldest made pitcher of the year as a college fresman), or the musician with the h.s. jazz band and all the kids (sardines) that could fit into the basement, house, back yard all at once.

And that part of life is slipping away fast. Sometimes I wonder if I'm going to make it much longer with one foot in the grave and the other on a bananna peel. I've been a parent for 34 years, have 3-1/2 kids (my daughter [by a previous marriage] was kidnapped by her mother when she was an infant) so not quite 4 kiddies, my two youngest (Chong and I have been married for 21 years) are about to leave the nest, and I really don't know what to do.

I't so quiet and empty. I think I'll have a heart attack and die pretty soon.



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Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

Hmm... Mine are 18 and 20 and the son will be off to college in August joining his sister. The house will be empty, the phone will quiet down a lot, the driveway will be passable. I'm seriously considering a year or so off to honeymoon and smell the roses while still young enough to do so.

Ahh........

Rich

oo-oo ooo-ooo Wa-ake u-up and whiff the smelling salts... Honeymoon and smell the roses, Rich? Are you ok?

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Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

Heheheheh. Allen, I do have a softer side. All work/training and no play makes Rich a tired and sore puppy. Actually, I'd probably get bored in a month but I can dream can't I?

Rich

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Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

Countdown...graduation week 5/31
Band Banquet
Picnic in the Park
Sr. Awards Ceremony
Grad Bash
Open House ... June 9

I hope I survive this "black belt test" of a parent of a graduating senior. I hear you, Allen, sometimes you don't know whether to hug 'em or choke 'em .. push/pull energy!

Ah ... for the simple life! I know I'll miss him terribly, but throughout his life I've enjoyed every age. I'm ready to help this bird out of the nest and hope whatever foundations I've given him will serve him well.

Jackie

The graduation frenzy is done! The decorations are put away, the relatives have gone home, the refrigerator is stuffed with left over food ... and TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!

I can return to training/teaching at my dojo ... it is a good day indeed! Gosh, I can hardly wait for the college whirl to start (NOT!)

Jackie

Jackie, let me be the first (and I KNOW not the last) to wish you a very happy birthday and many many more!!!

Happy birthday Jackie! How is it possible for someone so young to have an 18 year old?? Child bride??

Happy B-Day! Jackie. Sounds like it was a packed weekend. Go work out, then kick back, relax, enjoy... It's a good day.

david

A belated happy birthday to you Jackie.

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Van Canna

Blush, Blush ... thanks all for your good wishes, it was a really good day and it felt soooooo good to be at the dojo!

My sensei surprised me with a set of pictures of our class and a great pix taken several years ago of me with the 4 guys who really made an impact on my training: My sensei, Sr. Instructor. and my two black belt training partners who have long since moved away.

Now, if I just had pix of ALL of you!

Jackie