He's Ready

​In a few short weeks, my oldest son, Bobby, will be graduated from high school and leave home, and I’m not ready. I’m sure that I am not the only mother facing a child’s graduation wondering how all of the time passed so quickly. It seems like yesterday that I sat with my kindergartner at the computer looking up every fact I could find about bats because Bobby could not concentrate on home schooling until he had answers. Wasn’t it just last fall that he was six years old and asked for a tuxedo for Christmas so he could take me to dinner? 
 
Ever since Bobby was small, he has said that he wanted to be a pilot someday. This always struck me funny because he was terrified of heights. On more than one occasion, I had to cram my adult-sized body into the high tubes of McDonald’s play place to rescue my petrified little boy who was frozen in the middle. Just weeks after his graduation, Bobby will be joining the Air Force, and, maybe someday, will fulfill his pilot dream. There’s something about him joining the military that makes his leaving home more permanent than if he had chosen to go straight to college. Isn’t he too young for that?
 
The truth is that Bobby is more than ready. He has always seemed like an old man trapped in a child’s body. His favorite singer when he was young was Elvis Presley and he has always loved classic movies and television shows. It’s as if he was born with wisdom well beyond his years. Bobby has been a lifesaver as I return to the workforce after over two decades. I’m not sure how our family will cope without his presence, but I know it’s time. 
 
It’s amazing how one minute, my heart overflows with pride for this boy and excitement for his future and the next, my heart is breaking at the thought of letting him go. I know that I am not the only one feeling this way. I also know that this is what Bob and I have been working toward for our son. We knew that this sweet boy who, after getting a sled for Christmas when he was two, said, “Where’s the reindeer?” would someday be a grown man of God stepping away from us to fulfill his God-given purpose. I couldn’t be more proud.