My House is a Rest Area

This spring, a mother robin built a nest under our deck. We have been closely monitoring the light blue eggs and watching for the signs of life. A few weeks ago, the eggs hatched and we have since watched the baby birds grow from little pink blobs, to small feathery bundles to juvenile birds. In the last few days the baby birds have flown away and left the nest empty. This got me to thinking about what's going to happen this weekend:

In 3 short days, Michael will walk down the aisle, across the stage and will receive his high school diploma. This will close one chapter of his life and open a new one. There are so many cliche' phrases that fit... Where has the time gone? I remember when he was born. It seems like just yesterday he started Kindergarten etc... No matter how you look at it, time has flown by and our baby boy is graduating from high school.

This has been a transition year for our family. Allow me to explain: Michael was always a homebody. He never did much socially and just enjoyed spending time at home. We would always encourage him to get out and do something, but he was never really interested. This year, his Senior year, things changed. He suddenly blossomed into a social butterfly. My son who never wanted to leave the house for anything, was suddenly gone all the time. Part of the equation is his job. He works quite a few hours a week. But aside from that he is pretty much gone all the time. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I know it's part of the natural order of things. I only mention it because I miss him already and he's really not even gone yet. I asked Michael about his sudden burst of social activity. His response was something along the lines of feeling restless when he was at home and feeling the need to be on the go all the time. I don't think there's an adult out there that can't relate to that. I've come to realize my house is just a rest area for Michael. He stops by every now and then for something to eat or to change clothes. (magically food appears in the pantry and clean, nicely folded clothes end up in his closet). He comes home in the wee hours and sleeps for a while. The next morning he's up and out the door again.

All this got me to thinking about the mother robin and her babies. This mother sat on these eggs and tended to them. Surely she fretted over any sign of danger or threat to her nest. Then the babies hatched and she tirelessly searched for food, fed each one and covered them with her own body to keep them warm. Within a matter of weeks, these babies teetered on the side of the nest and flew off on their own... Ready to face a big, scary world on their own. Even a mother bird probably feels like something is suddenly missing. Right now Michael is teetering on the side of our nest. He hasn't flown off yet, but he's feeling the undeniable call to spread his wings and fly. All we can do is wait and watch until he goes out to face the world on his own. We, his parents, only pray we have done enough to prepare him.