Jason leaves for college today

It really is beginning to settle in that Jason is going away to college. When he was in Spain all summer, I would say to myself that he will be back. But now he is really leaving the nest and will be faraway for most of the year.

Of course I have known this moment would be coming. But now it is here and I feel some sadness around this, missing having meals with him or hanging out by going to movies or plays. We have done these things literally hundreds of times over the course of fourteen years. I will also miss his youthful energy that tends to revitalize my own spirits and keep me young. Yet in the age of Skype, text messages, and cheap phone calls, he is close and in touch. My mind, not my heart, knows that!

Mostly, I am proud of him, for overcoming many, many challenges during his high school years, staying true to his intuition and interests, and keeping his heart and smile open while some young men his age shutdown and are sullen. In the last two years, he faced his demons, set appropriate boundaries with the adults in his life, and leaned into his fears rather than runaway from them. This is the way of a very young spiritual warrior.

I will end this post by saying I am so glad to see him optimistic, happy, and curious about his future. I reminded when he was six and we were having a meal sitting across from each other, he used to put his feet on top of mine but not say a word about it. Wow. It was his way of saying he cared for me. And, today, I send him off with this same feeling in my heart.