College Bound

It seems like only yesterday that I was blogging about my younger son graduating from the Leelanau School. But in reality it was 74 days ago, summer has flown by, and fall is almost upon us. So tonight we will load up the SUV, and tomorrow morning my wife and I will take our "baby" to Aquinas College--a small school with a gorgeous campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan--so he can start the next phase of his life.

As some of you know, I didn't go away to college. Neither did my siblings. Or my mom and dad. Or my older son. So this whole "heading off to college" thing is completely foreign to me. Luckily, for the past two years we've had the experience of having our son away at boarding school, so him transitioning to a dorm environment away from home--and us to "empty nesters"--shouldn't be a problem. The academics, I'm not so sure about. But I'm doing my best to let go of the worry and keep the faith.

Like a lot of kids his age, my son doesn't know yet what he wants to do when he grows up. He's a late bloomer, so that's perfectly fine. One class he's taking that he's really excited about is Japanese. He's a big fan of anime (Japanese animated productions) and has expressed an interest in studying in Japan. If that were to happen, that would be badass. We'll have to wait and see.

I suppose sending your child off to college for the first time is never easy; especially when it's your youngest. It's a little more challenging for me because I'm still unemployed (eight months and counting...ugh) and keep thinking about the money aspect. But my wife constantly tells me, "It'll be okay," so I'll assume that she's right and we'll see how things go.

Just a few short years ago I really couldn't envision a time when my older son would be more than two years clean and sober and my younger son would be college bound. I'm not exactly sure how we got to the place we are today, but I'm grateful as can be that the stars, planets, and universe finally aligned. I will not take these days for granted and will enjoy every little moment as much as I possibly can.

Needless to say, I am proud as hell of both my boys.

Peace.

"And you may ask yourself, 'Well...How did I get here?'" --Talking Heads

"I do not understand the mystery of grace--only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us." --Anne Lamott

P.S. Here's a video that shows the beauty of the Aquinas College campus.