Spread your Wings.............

I’ve been thinking about my adult kids a lot lately. Those that are away I miss- and those that are here are becoming my “circle of friends”. Very different relationships but all raised the same way.Someone in town was asking Luke about his brothers and sisters and wanted to know why some had moved away. His answer was- “I have no idea”. I started thinking about it and that’s about the best answer I could come up with too.
“There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots and the other is wings” - Hodding Carter
I guess I focused on the roots so much that I forgot about the wings. I thought we’d all stay close together and watch the family grow day by day- but it hasn’t happened. I longed so for roots when I was growing up- oh I had good parents, but I wanted that “Ozzie & Harriet” kinda house. I wanted to live someplace long enough to have real memories about it. But ours was an adventurous family and we moved fairly often until I was in the 7th grade.
Naturally when my own children came along I wanted them to have what I had always wanted- roots!!!But just as I had wanted the opposite of my own childhood for my children some of mine have wanted just the opposite- wings.
I’ve spent many days wishing somehow we could all be close together, but time has set so many things into motion that likely won’t change. Those that are away are not coming back-except to visit- and hopefully those that are still here I can savor for a few more years before things change again.
We certainly do look at things differently on this side of “the hill” - you know over the hill and on the downhill slide!!!There simply isn’t enough time to do all that should be done- and I don’t mean WORK! I’m talking about the important things like fishing ,talking,picking flowers playing in the yard- the things you miss so much once those little ones sprout their wings!