Nothing holding him back

My older son drove away from my house early this morning, headed for a distant city where he’s going to build a new life. He’s wanted this adventure for a long time, and finally he’s setting out on it. He spent a couple of days with me before he left, partly because it was Father’s Day weekend and partly because neither of us knows when we’ll see each other again. Since college he’s lived in Bloomington, an easy drive away. It was a gift to be able to decide on a whim to visit, or to have him appear at my door for the weekend. Now the distance will make those moments much rarer. There is sadness in that, of course. But I always wanted him to choose a life for himself and have the courage to go live it. The whole point of parenting is to help another human being become fully themselves. Not to keep them close, and certainly not to make them need you forever — rather, to help them become capable of going wherever their own life leads. This morning my son drove away with nothing holding…