Letting Go......

The time has come....the time is now... I'm becoming an empty nester....and I do know how!

The end of over 26 years of raising kids is coming to a close. Of course, that doesn't mean I stop being a mom, but it does mean I have to let go.

It's not an easy thing to do....I've been quite weepy this past few weeks. When Jon goes back to school next week we will be alone....ALONE!! I know there are alot of good things associated with being alone, but it doesn't make it any easier right now.

I've been keeping busy cleaning like a mad woman. PURGING is the word. Took a carload to Deseret Industries and a huge load to the dump. I am lightening my load. I'm putting the school years behind me and looking forward to the future.

You see...The Navy Guy is in boot camp. I am learning ALOT about being a Navy Mom. As you can probably guess by now, Josh has joined the Navy. We had a huge send off for him. Some little mice snuck over and decorated our house at 4:30 in the morning the day before he left. We later found out it was Josh's best friends parents.

While he didn't choose the path that we had planned for him....it is HIS path and we love and support him. He is going to be gone for at least 4 years....which makes it so final. Luckily the timing is right...I feel like I sent him off to college... he will be home for Christmas. Right now he is outside of Chicago and in October he will be headed to school in Pensecola FL.

I can't bear to take down the decorations I put up, though, the flag balloons I had all over have lost their zing and are floating downward.... I go into his room and hug his pillow...silly I know but it gives me comfort.

The"kid in the box" came the other day. They say this is the box that signifies letting the kid go and when we see him next he will be a man. It contains everything he was wearing and that they wouldn't let him keep. I opened it, looked at the contents and put it in his room. I will have to go through it again, but for now it sits there. All of us Navy Moms with kids in boot camp have been waiting for "the box."

We got the "letter" today. It is a form letter with his division and ship # and address. I was so excited just to see his handwriting on the envelope. He is in the marching band division....BOOT CAMP BAND!  It also had his PIR date ...Navy lingo for Pass In Review...or graduation in everyday terms. We will have to travel to see him. I am proud of my Navy Guy....and I know I will get used to this empty nester life after I am done...... letting go!