When we wrote the first check for Tyler to go to the University of Central Florida in 2003, we were thankful that he had survived the high school years....and was accepted to a college that he was really excited about. And...we were going to be EMPTY NESTERS! It was a new chapter in his life as well as ours.
Tyler was surprised that I didn't cry when we dropped him off. Really? I had not had a full night sleep since he got his driver's license. I was READY for this new season of life. A couple of weeks after he started his classes, he messaged me (on AOL - this was a while ago!) Just a "hey mom - how's it going". I told him everything was going well. He asked me what I was cooking for dinner. I told him spaghetti. He said "I miss how our house smells..."
OK...that started the flood of tears. Probably all the emotions that I had bottled up over the past three months of graduation/summer/college entry. The tears only lasted a few days....(but...just FYI...I was sleeping well at night....I couldn't hear the sirens in Orlando)
I made frequent visits to Orlando. Sometimes just for the day to stock the freezer with comfort food (spaghetti sauce, enchiladas, meatballs...) We went to a football game with him. I began to meet Tyler's college friends. Then he got involved with the UCF Crew Team. Great bunch on athletes. Incredible group of friends for him.
They say that when you go to a big college (this one was over 40,000 students) you have to find a way to make it small. Some students join a sorority/fraternity. Tyler joined the crew team. They were his small group...and his family. We attended weekend events. They rowed in Jacksonville and spent the night on air mattresses in our house. We bought bananas and other snacks and took them to races. We traveled to beautiful venues like Rollins and Oak Ridge.
But most of all....we got to know this team. We met the people on his boat. We cheered the victories and mourned the defeats. We met the families. Actually...we became family.
These "kids" have all graduated now. They are all successful in their chosen fields. Our unexpected blessing is that they all consider us family. They are in each other's weddings. We've been invited to graduations...celebrations...weddings. What an amazing gift. We've traveled around to embrace these celebrations...and look forward to more to come.
We are so thankful for these friendships. God is good...all the time!
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Family Vacation
When I was a child, every summer we would take a trip to Virginia to visit our grandparents there. It was a wonderful time, playing with cousins, gathering eggs, fresh veggies from the garden, playing out in the "wash house" that Granny had stocked with toys and games, sleepovers with my cousin, Sara, who lived just down the road...
Now we've come full circle, so as adults we look forward to more family vacations. Most of our family lives away from here so it is a perfect opportunity to travel.
We took advantage of that a few weeks ago and planned a road trip - visiting all of the grandchildren plus a stopover to see my parents.
Our retirement "rule" is that we won't drive more than 6-7 hours a day. Hey - we're retired - we don't have to kill ourselves to get somewhere. So we drove just past Atlanta the first day - stopping in Cartersville for the night. The next morning we just had a short day to get to Nashville to visit Dan, Tanya and family.
We arrived just after lunch to a warm welcome. We hadn't seen their home since last August when they moved in so it was fun to see all the changes they had made. We spent three days playing with the kids, enjoying meals together, hearing stories about their school and new friends. Nashville is a great town and they are making the best of all the opportunities there. We spent lots of time outside and had really good weather. Tanya and I got some time away on Saturday and the guys spent time with the kids. It was perfect!
From Nashville we headed to Huntington to visit with my parents. We got their computer system up and running (prior system crashed) so they are back in business with email, etc. Mom and I worked at the hospital gift shop one morning and some of my friends from the College stopped by to visit me there. We ate at Stewart's Hot Dogs, Jim's Spaghetti House, and Tutor's Biscuits (pretty much my must-have food when I go home). Lots of time spent on the porch just chatting. Always good to check in with my parents and see how they are doing.
Final leg of our journey was to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania to visit Michelle, Brian, Joel and Adam. Joel had just finished kindergarten a couple of days earlier so the boys were home and ready to spend some time with Nana and PaPa. Bloomsburg is a very small town, but they have quite a few kid-friendly activities so we made the best of our time there. We went to a playground, bounce house place, Joel's baseball game, and an amusement park - plus family dinners at their house in the evening. The boys are growing up so fast! Michelle and I even had a spa day while PaPa babysat.
Two more days "on the road" and we were back at home in Florida. It was a perfect vacation that we will have to make into an annual visit. Now I need time to rest my body from playing soccer and showing off my gymnastic skills with the grandchildren. Maybe "Nana" should stick with baking.....
Now we've come full circle, so as adults we look forward to more family vacations. Most of our family lives away from here so it is a perfect opportunity to travel.
We took advantage of that a few weeks ago and planned a road trip - visiting all of the grandchildren plus a stopover to see my parents.
Our retirement "rule" is that we won't drive more than 6-7 hours a day. Hey - we're retired - we don't have to kill ourselves to get somewhere. So we drove just past Atlanta the first day - stopping in Cartersville for the night. The next morning we just had a short day to get to Nashville to visit Dan, Tanya and family.
From Nashville we headed to Huntington to visit with my parents. We got their computer system up and running (prior system crashed) so they are back in business with email, etc. Mom and I worked at the hospital gift shop one morning and some of my friends from the College stopped by to visit me there. We ate at Stewart's Hot Dogs, Jim's Spaghetti House, and Tutor's Biscuits (pretty much my must-have food when I go home). Lots of time spent on the porch just chatting. Always good to check in with my parents and see how they are doing.
Final leg of our journey was to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania to visit Michelle, Brian, Joel and Adam. Joel had just finished kindergarten a couple of days earlier so the boys were home and ready to spend some time with Nana and PaPa. Bloomsburg is a very small town, but they have quite a few kid-friendly activities so we made the best of our time there. We went to a playground, bounce house place, Joel's baseball game, and an amusement park - plus family dinners at their house in the evening. The boys are growing up so fast! Michelle and I even had a spa day while PaPa babysat.
Two more days "on the road" and we were back at home in Florida. It was a perfect vacation that we will have to make into an annual visit. Now I need time to rest my body from playing soccer and showing off my gymnastic skills with the grandchildren. Maybe "Nana" should stick with baking.....
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