Tuesday, June 14

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Just back from a weekend trip to New Buffalo, MI.  Very nice....the same signs of the bad economy are there too - lots of real estate for sale, lots of big, expensive boats for sale....tough times.  But we had a nice time.  Gas there was $3.81/gal, as compared to $4.15 here...go figure.  Oh wait - I covered that the other day...

But...in the spirit of this blog, another stark reminder of just how time marches on.  The wife and I went on the trip alone - no kids.  I asked my son if he wanted to go with (knowing full well what the answer would be), and his answer was that football and basketball camp were starting, and he couldn't miss those days.....so, on Monday, we were driving from New Buffalo to St. Joe, and passed a go cart track that he liked to stop at...was kind of sad to drive by it without stopping.  My wife and I just talked about that being the place we used to be forced to stop at, lest we be barraged with a lot of complaining - about how those go carts were the best things ever, and we had to stop.  We walked in town and passed the ice cream place he loved, and we never failed to stop and get him a double dip cone.  But he wasn't with us, so we didn't stop this time..we kept walking.  No one begging to go to the pool, no one wanting to go out to eat at new places.  I remember going to the indoor pool and watching him have a good time operating his radio controlled boat - he'd play with that until the batteries ran out...I guess we have passed into a new phase in our lives.  I feel like I should have at least had some say in the matter, but I guess not...it was inevitable.  and sad....morosely sad.  As my once little guy grows and enters new phases of his life, he needs me less.  That is part of being a parent and seeing your son or daughter grow, mature...become independant.  Of course, now that he is getting his drivers permit, he will have to rely on me for the next year to take him driving...so I have some revenge.  which I will certainly use to my advantage.  but for today, I am a bit bummed.

so, I have taken one more step toward being an empty nester, I guess.  not so sure I like the feel of it.  at least yet.

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