My delightful daughter turned 18 this month and will be graduated from high school at the end of next week. And like everyone else, she has had a series of adventures that brought her to where she is today.
Over the Memorial Day weekend she had an interesting experience that represents an odd milestone for both of us. I went to a technology conference in New Orleans. She needed to find her way to another city, 150 miles away, check into a hotel, and take a two day class.
The organization paying for all this did not make the correct reservations and she had to fix a travel glitch at the last minute. So Daddy jumped in (from across the country), made the hotel reservations and paid for the room. In some sense you can say “what’s new?” but the whole thing is new.
My new reality is that my girl is going off into the so-called real world. We will rely on me when needed. That will become less and less frequent as time goes on. At the same time, she’s at that delightful stage of life when the most mundane things are an adventure. I don’t remember the last time driving three hours to stay in a Travelodge was an adventure for me. :-)
It was nice that she called me. She had a good class and a good adventure. She was a little scared in the hotel alone. But it was a very safe city and a very safe hotel. So in the end it was mostly an adventure.
Now she knows the glamour of travel! She also knows that she can do this again and what she would do differently.
In the meantime, I have a taste of what remote worrying is like. I guess when she goes off to college I’ll be doing more of that. I also need to get used to the new reality.
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It is always good to slow down and take note of these milestones, no matter how small unimportant they are.
In this case I recognize that Victoria is mature and capable. I fully expected this to be as uneventful as it turned out to be. But a little “proof” of her maturity was very nice to see.
There is a sweet sadness in helping my only child to leave home. So far we’re both holding up well.
:-)
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Bob Nitrio · May 31, 2010 at 7:14 am
Karl,
Despite the fact that Victoria is going to be more separated from you in the near-term, the good news is that, like the tides, it will swing back to greater closeness later in life. Or, as I so fondly put it, parenting is forever. And I mean that in a very good, very positive way. Enjoy every moment of the ride because it lasts for oh-so-brief a time, and then we ultimately leave our children to be on their own without us.