Just got off a “Facetime” (another noun/verb that technology invented!) with our #1 girl – all of 23 and traveling with a one-way ticket and a work visa in Australia for almost a month now. Since graduating college in 2013, she’s been itching for such an adventure – to challenge herself, to see the world and to discover her career passions.
“Go as many places as you can.
You can always make money, you can’t always make memories.”
She is on an awesome adventure, taking each day one at a time, no expectations, spreading her wings, exploring her future and embracing LIFE as it comes her way. We look forward to her blogs, her quick texts, her occasional calls, and living vicariously through her journey. I miss her, a LOT.
AND THEN IT HIT ME LIKE A JOLT.
She is not the only one on a journey of transformation. I am facing a future where school and team sports no longer outline our family structure, where children who left home as teenagers are now young adults. I have been unwillingly thrown into a phase of life where I need to rediscover myself, my relationships and my “place” as a mom. With an empty nest (for REAL this time!), I have to shift my focus to just the two of us, aging parents, and spending our time in different ways. But most immediately, I must adjust to this new role of mom to two compassionate, resourceful and fiercely independent young people who want to travel the world.
My daughter struck out first, but her brother is not long behind. I sense the whispers of those who judge her choice as irresponsible and as wasting time in finding a lucrative career; am surprised at the admiration from others about her “bravery;” and revel in the wistful applause of older friends (no matter how successful!), who repeatedly claim their biggest regret in life was not traveling before they got caught up in career and family.
Her path does not fit the “norm” but then, neither does she. She’s always been one to challenge the status quo. I listen to friends speak of their kids’ journeys — from college, internships, grad schools and career success; to engagements, marriages and starting new families — all traditional paths for our twenty-somethings. While a part of me wishes I could chime in with similar news, I also know that encouraging her to step out into our great, big world unafraid to risk putting some traditional things on hold – will lead her to a life of no regrets, a global perspective and experiences to last a lifetime. Priceless.
“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.”
I expected to miss my girl, to follow her adventures with interest and excitement, to possibly visit her in some faraway destination. I did not expect that it would take ME out of MY comfort zone and force me to face myself and my expectations of how her life might unfold. Wise beyond her years, brave and bold, I truly can’t wait to see where her journey takes her. Lexie, I am so incredibly proud of you!
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.”
– Mark Twain