For the first 50 years of my life, my perfectionist self mistakenly believed it was all about knowing more, getting it right, planning, attempting to prevent bad things from happening, and keeping all of my chicks in a row. It took me this long to discover that the JOURNEY is all that matters. This quote from Gilda Radner sums it all up:

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. "

Monday, October 11, 2010

Going Solo - Day 2

Kerry stayed in the hotel room with me.  I woke up early on Saturday and drove to Milton to have breakfast with my brother, Paul. I let Kerry sleep in.

Then I picked up Kerry and we headed to the Skirack to buy her equipment for snowboarding.  She tried it a few times last year in CT, but now she is looking forward to the winter here in Vermont.  I know it won't take her long to become really good at it!

Kerry and I headed to Middlebury after lunch and we walked around campus with Adam.  It was a beautiful day.  The picture above is really neat and symbolic.  Adam and Kerry are in the foreground with their backs to me, while I am only seen as a smaller figure watching over them in the background.  Adam is farther away from me than Kerry.  As a mother, I am watching my children as they leave home and start their lives without me.  I am still in their lives, but in a smaller role.





























The Middlebury campus is really beautiful.  It is adorned with interesting art and sculpture in addition to the magnificent architecture.

We wandered around campus then went into town to look around the shops.


Before heading to dinner, we went to listen to a talk by Adam's psychology professor about a book that she co-wrote about how modern technology has changed parent-child relationships in college years.
It was very interesting and was very well attended.
I had a wonderful day!

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2 comments:

  1. taylor virginia millsOctober 16, 2010 at 12:57 PM

    that parent's lecture sounds really interesting? Did you learn anything new? I love the picture looking into the reflection!

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  2. GayleOctober 17, 2010 at 2:54 PM

    Hi Taylor,
    After listening to the author talk, I really want to read the book. There was much discussion about how college kids used to make a weekly phone call from the phone booth in the dorm while a line of kids was waiting to use the phone also. This forced kids to be more independent and handle things on their own. Also, since they were saving up what they wanted to talk about for that "once a week" call, the kids had time to process things before relaying them to their parents. So what parents were told would be less reactionary, and maybe not even important enough to be discussed anymore by the time the weekly phone call came around. Nowadays, kids will text things to their parents the minute things happen, before they have time to think things through or talk them over with friends. Parents become more involved in the everyday happenings of their kids and try to help them solve their problems, thus hindering the kid's ability to deal with things on their own.

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