June 30, 2014

Last evening at dinner Cal announced, "Well, this is my last night of being a teenager."  He then recalled noting the 'last day of his childhood' when he was 12 years old. This blasted me back to the Arm Meat post I wrote on that momentous day.  See June 30, 2007.  I think he was a little shocked by how fast the years have gone by.

As I've noted several times, Cal is the sentimental one. More apt to remember other's birthdays, look through photo albums, and even create his own scrapbook. He had that "Furr-ever Friends" kitten poster on his wall to a much higher age than I would have expected. He went to Build A Bear on his 11th birthday and still has the Louisville Cardinal outfitted bear in his closet. He is the first to try to plan a family vacation, get enthused about game night, or catch a movie together.  He may look more like Pat, but he sure has a bit of me in him, too.

Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head

Cold Play seemed the perfect companion for the morning of June 21, 2014.  Having seen Eli and Hannah off on their summer adventure to Star Lake Camp, NJ, perused the Farmer's Market, worked out at the Y, it was finally Me Time. Pat and Cal were occupied with baseball and I was finishing a thorough cleaning of the kitchen and basically just putzing around the house. I can't say I felt sad or bad, just melancholy. I don't think I would have cried at the depot if Hannah's mom had not 'lost it' as the train pulled away.

It's been awhile since anyone 'left' home and I had forgotten until it smacked me in the face yesterday, how cranky I get, especially with Eli, when he's about to leave. The first time I noticed it was when he went away to college, and Pat mentioned that his mom had the same reaction. I started a big argument over shoes. It's too stupid to even put in words, but he was just driving me crazy with his stubbornness.  It carried over to this morning right before we left for the train. I know logically he can figure it out himself. And I know I am being irrational, but can't seem to stop it anyway.  I hated seeing that grimace on his face, holding back the nasty words he would have like to say to me.  I appreciate Hannah's honesty when faced with a similar family situation last night, in that she was able to tell her parents to back off in an appropriate way.

I keep thinking, how relieved they must have been to get on that train and leave the parents behind at this moment. Let the adventure begin.

Fly Like an Eagle

Cal has made a few comments that confirm that he is very, very excited to be living in Normal, IL next year and attending a 'big' university.  He was able to excel academically and play baseball at the community college while saving a boatload of money.  And we enjoyed having him living at home.  He has become a very mature, financially responsible young man.

Eli is leaving June 22 for the rest of the summer to be a ropes specialist at a Salvation Army camp in New Jersey. It will be quite an experience, as the kids are from inner city New York.  As Cal flies out of the coop August 16 (it's coming way too fast) I will truly have an empty nest.

I spent some time with Adam yesterday in Springfield. He picked out a bike, gave it a test ride, and I bought it for his 26th birthday. I was pleased he wanted to buy me some Teavana rock sugar and some food from his restaurant.  He didn't say why, but he insisted I go into Little Saigon with him to pick up the food.  The staff were real friendly, and I know Adam spends a lot of time with his Asian friends. He showed me some pictures on his phone taken recently in St. Louis, "since you don't see me in my regular life." How true that is.

They are all three progressing and living out their lives as young adults. It is very encouraging to see the fruits of our labors, so to speak.

SIU Visit

This was originally written in July 2011. I'm not sure if I ever published it here or not. I know I submitted something like this to the family news. It also appears I didn't quite finish it.

When did my little Momma's boy who followed me from room to room and put his arms around my neck and wouldn't let go turn into the 5'11" and growing surly young man who is old enough to go on a college visit?
After driving five hours we arrived in Carbondale and the good people there gave us some sage advice: most of the motels in Carbondale are, how can I say this, temporary crack houses, or places you take your new ‘friend’ for a few hours. I asked a biker guy if he thought the Comfort Inn would have bed bugs and he replied, “Pretty much anywhere in town you’re gonna have a problem with critters.” Oh great. He directed us to where he thought we were going on the East side of town, and turns out the Comfort Inn is only 19 months old, not long enough to get bed bugs, right? I checked just in case, though it was really, really nice and clean.
After dinner at Panera and noticing the maroon polos and SIU license plates, we lucked onto campus by accident. We heard music and saw people flooding towards center of the university with coolers. We got out and walked along, noticing open alcohol all around, amidst the families, students and elder community people. The full moon was out, a band from Chicago was set to take the outdoor stage and we decided to head on over to the new football stadium.
Two guys were hosing off some dirt in front of the stadium and said we could go on in. Later I talked with the night shift worker and he was an honest to goodness good guy. How easy for him to make a good impression of the school and town of Carbondale, as being somewhere I would send my son. The turf stadium with box suites was really nice and we were directed over to the basketball arena across the parking lot. Both beat the pants off what WIU has for athletic facilities.