“What?” are you all asking? “Have you quit running again?”
No. Not at all. I‘ve actually graduated to a hotel treadmill three days a week, a short run on Fridays (from home) and an hour or so one day a weekend. For now, that’s going to have to do. The rigors of weekly air commuting just won’t let me do a whole lot more.
But this weekend, I’ve fallen off the wagon. But I think I have a reason. Honestly. You see, I’m losing my oldest daughter, my baby. For you young’uns out there you probably don’t understand. But one day you’ll have kids. They’ll grow up under your tutelage. Then they spread their wings and leave the nest. At first the flights will be short. But eventually, they fly a little further and a little longer. Until they break free. It’s all part of growing up. But it doesn’t mean that mom and dad won’t shed a tear.
So this weekend, I’m three time zones away from home. Some of you runners will recognize the place (mile 25 right?):
If not, then some of you baseball fans will:
It’s been a whirlwind. I left Sacramento at 6:20AM Pacific on Friday, landed in Beantown at 4:30, picked my daughter up at 8:30 (the last two Eastern Time).
We started at 9AM on Saturday for “Christmas in Cambridge” aka Move In Day. Mind you, we’re still on West Coast time. And I thought traffic in L.A. was bad.
We met up with an old blogger and FB friend for dinner Saturday night:
Then it was back to the apartment to finish assembling the furniture before turning in at midnight.
Sunday was orientation day at my daughter’s school:
Followed by a little sightseeing so I could pay homage to a couple of my sports heroes:
Now mind you – I left home last Monday. I travel light so I don’t need to check luggage. As a result, Sunday afternoon is laundry day! Yikes!
Tomorrow I’m on the hook to full my daugther’s refrigerator, and then I’m off to Sacramento for another week of work. Home is just a distant memory until Thursday.
But, I am not looking forward to tomorrow. It’s the day that the papa bird will need to say good bye as baby bird starts the next chapter of her life pursuing her graduate degree. I sure hope that two years goes by quickly. Oh. And that there’s a fire nearby so I can blame the smoke for the teary eyes…..
Congratulations Alyssa! Mom and I are so proud of you! Just promise to not be a stranger!
LOL about the fire nearby ;) it is good that it bothers you for your kids to be far away! too many parents i feel like are too uninvolved, even though your daughter is grown up, i still feel that close family ties are important!
ReplyDeleteglad you and terri got to meet up! safe travels home/to your "home away from home" hotel.
I know exactly how you feel. When the last of our children left for college we had empty nest syndrome. So we adopted a baby boy!!! Here we go again!
ReplyDeleteAwww, glad you got to do this send-off, and no, you don't *have* to run.... =)
ReplyDeleteAwwww...Glenn... You're going to make me cry now. You're a good dad! Good luck to Alyssa!
ReplyDeleteLook at it as "expanding" your territory! You raised your kids well - she won't be a stranger ;-) And proud papa can skip his run.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to your daughter's new gig in Boston. I know it's tough, but you did a great job getting her ready for just this very day... and she's going to do great. And now you have an excuse to head to Boston for some great chowder now! :)
ReplyDelete