I made it across the Pacific Ocean without dying in a fiery crash. A miracle, every time. Greg insists it’s the physics of aerodynamics, and I believe him, but only mostly. You know; like, I believe him, but only with my head and with logic. Not with my heart. You’ll never convince me there isn’t also fairy dust involved in air travel. Or a whole host off angels rolling their eyes as they hoist yet another tin can full of reckless humans on their backs and take them where they’re bid, grumbling all the while at the Lord Most High, “Oh, my GOD. If you would just LET THEM ALL TUMBLE INTO THE SEA FOR ONE DAY ONLY, they wouldn’t pull stupid crap like this EVER AGAIN.” But no. Nope. God keeps letting us do what’s crazy.
I made it. All the way here to Hawaii where my kid is finishing up her first year of college. We dropped her off 8 months ago, taught her how to use the bus, and bought Every Single Thing at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond. I spent 300% of my budget, I told her she didn’t have to stay, and that college was overrated, and that I was pretty sure she ought to give up on her dreams and move back home with her mommy FOREVER, because who doesn’t want that?? She said no, and told me I was going to be OK. She said I’d be fine, and I could do this, and I knew she was right, but I cried on the way home, anyway.
Now here we are, only a few months later. Hardly any time at all, but this time this is Her Place, and now, for the first time, I’m the visitor in a world she’s created for herself. She took me to her favorite beach and let me play Twinsies in the water with her, where we take pics of our stunning dance prowess and have people try to guess who’s who. She took me to her favorite restaurant with her friends — the one that’s open ’til 2am with the vegan peanut butter shakes and the cartoons playing from a projector onto the concrete wall. And, in the grand tradition of college students everywhere, she let me buy her groceries, but then she said thank you, because she knows now that food costs money, and money has to be earned, and that, while we’re glad to give it, it’s still a gift worth acknowledgement and gratitude.
Eight months is all.
A blink, really, and she’s grown.
Which we knew would happen, but only mostly. In our heads and with logic, you know? Because it’s part of the physics of becoming.
So of course she’s grown. It’s inevitable. But you’ll also never convince me there isn’t fairy dust involved in helping her fly.
Sending love, friends,
11 responses to “MiniPost: Just a Little Fairy Dust”
I would adopt All The College Kids I could find; one day those kids will have degrees and careers and will be in a prime position to remember the kindness bestowed upon them by a Pancake Fairy Godmother and return the favor.
[…] mostly been with Abby since arriving in Hawaii. Not a ton of time on our own. We’re helping her hunt for next year’s apartment. Doing […]
I would put forth the bernoulli theory of lift…you know those little minions that pull up the wings. Just look out the window… you can see them. But I’m more inclined to say it must be fairy dust. Years ago that heavenly dust flew my eighth grader away to Boarding School thousands of miles away. And I cried. She wanted to do grow up way before I was ready. She not only survived, but flourished. And now she is a beautiful Mom of 5 kids that loves with all her heart. And she creates beautiful things all around her. And she is fabulous(biased, not me). It took a multitude of angels with loads of fairy dust to lead her way (believe me). And now I have tears again to see Abby flourish. You are both beautiful!!!
This SO needs a LOVE button!
<3 I cry every time I think about my baby leaving. He laughs at me. "Are you CRYING??? You ARE, aren't you??"
The water is beautiful, you two are beautiful, WHO is that beautiful man-boy?
p.s. I feel the same way about flying. A pilot friend once explained it's because I think of the air as a gas, and not a liquid. I was like, "Yeah…." It really didn't help.
Ha! That boy is The Boy. 😉 He’s a lovely person.
Yes. From all the moms everywhere who have ever sent a baby away to college and a few short minutes later met a grown up.
And on the way home tonight it was just my 7 year old and me. We got around to talking about having families and he said he was never going to move out. I told him that he might like to, but he could still live close. And then he cried (because it was way past bedtime) and said he wanted to live with me forever. And I said he could, but he could also change his mind if he wanted to and I told him how I went away to college and dropped out after 3 weeks to come home to community college for 2 more years too. a
And someday he will probably not be able to wait until he can move out…
One of my twins is just like this. I told him he never has to move out — NEVER — and can snuggle with his mommy every night. I told him when he grows up and marries a lovely human, that human can live with us, too, and will think it’s AWESOME and NOT AT ALL WEIRD that he has Mommy Snuggles before bed. Brainwashing is one of my family values.
I moved away when I went to college, and flew all the way to South America, where my mom is from, and lived with her sister, my aunt. Now I’m all grown up and bought a house 3 blocks away where I can go get snuggles whenever I want, and I often bring 2 smaller, snugglier people over too. <3 And I told them they can live here forever, or we can wait and they can buy the houses down the street.
And my then-about-13yo daughter politely informed me that she was afraid she might hurt my feelings, but she hoped to have her own place someday. I assured her it was perfectly normal. Now, at 22, she is still at home and (for lots of reasons I won’t go into here) is likely to be here for the foreseeable future.