When our children are young, we try to imagine their future. We can see their achievements, their sorrows, their hurdles, their laughter and tears. We know that their road will not be smooth and sometimes unsafe. We hope that we will give them the necessary guidance to cope and to succeed. And we know that maybe, maybe, they will travel to far off lands to make their fortune.
Our hearts shed a tear that we never let them see.
My son moved to Brooklyn last September. When he was around 3 or 4 he crawled up into my lap and stated," Mommy, I am going to live with you forever!" I laughed and assured him, that he was welcome to live with me forever, but we should ask his wife first. At 23, when he told me he was moving across the country to New York, I said "GO. Chase your Dream". And he left to live with the woman he dearly loves. He struggles, he laughs, he loves, and he lives fully in the home of his own making. He is a man. He is a lover, He is a dreamer and doer. And I miss him. And I am so proud of him.
When I was 21 I came home from college and informed my parents that I was spending a semester abroad,. England. My mother asked me where would I be living. I said that I didn't know but that was no concern for the college would find me a place to live. That experince changed my life; my view of the world and myself.
Later when I was at the front of discovering a new me, when my marriage was no longer the center of my life, when that ended and decisions began., I moved to California. My mother must have worried, but she never told me. She said "Go. Chase your dreams".
My mother was 18 when she left her family home and moved to a new state. The war began and she enlisted, to see the world. She traveled to different parts of the country, ending up in Colorado. She married there than lived in a state different from her family. For centuries, literally since the late 1770's her family had lived in the same town,/city on Long Island. She left to follow her dreams.
Maybe there really is gypsy blood in my veins. Maybe there is a strong need to experience life through different places, different people, and the courage to make that journey. Wherever it may lead. I am thankful that my mother passed this to me, and hopeful that my passing it on to my son will bring him the thrill for life, the courage to try and the rewards of adventure.
If not, well, New York City is a great place to visit.
