~There are two gifts we should give our children; one is roots, and the other is wings.~
 |
| Our "replacement" Gage. |
It feels as if school just got out and here we are about to start again in a few short days. This was the first summer I really got a taste for what our next four years are going to be like with Gage. About a week after school got out Gage started summer school. He chose to take a computer applications class this summer so he would be able to take an extra elective his freshman year of high school. This along with football conditioning ate up every morning. He also spent a weekend volunteering with the Special Olympics. His hope is to make that an annual event!
Towards the end of June Gage and I were able to travel to Baltimore to Johns Hopkins University for Welcome Weekend for the JKCF Young Scholars. This was a four day event that taught us everything we needed to know about the program and how it works. It gave the 65 scholars a chance to bond with each other and the parents a chance to become friends. I believe it was during this weekend that I realized that Gage was in for the ride of his life and that as a mom it is my job to make sure he isn't afraid to take flight.
 |
| Gage and some of his friends from JKCF and from Explo. |
Once we were back from Baltimore Gage had one week of summer before he left for the church mission trip. They went to San Augustine, Texas and the group that Gage worked with helped tear down and put up the basis for siding on a home. As a rising freshman this was his first trip with the high school kids and when he came home he told me he was glad to see me but that he wished he was still on the trip helping people out. That was the second time in less than three weeks that I heard the message that I had to let him fly.
 |
| Learning acoustic guitar at Explo. |
 |
| Engineering Challanges |
Once again he had a very quick turnaround and he was off on his JKCF adventure for the summer. He was headed to Wellesley College for Explo. Explo is a three week residential program for grades 8 and 9.With over 600 kids from all over the world this was going to be the biggest adventure Gage had ever been on. We knew we would miss him. This was the longest he had ever been away from us. What I wasn't prepared for was the changes we noticed in his last few weeks there. He would call or text and it was just like talking to a whole new child. He has made lifelong friends and experienced things he never would have gotten to experience in Kansas. He had adventures, made friends and even had his first date all while learning about architecture, business, guitar, football and engineering challenges. In the simplest of words he grew up.
 |
| Learning about architecture and what it can withstand. |
On Saturday, Gage flies home. I know the child that started off this summer is not the same one that is coming home. He has grown in so many ways and is very well equipped to start high school.He is coming home and jumping right into the new year with church commitments on Sunday, football on Monday and classes on Tuesday.
I know the next four years are going to fly by and while in some regards it will be easy to let him go each summer for me it will be harder and harder. In four years he will be heading off to college. His educational path and the JKCF will take him anywhere he wants to go. While it is hard to imagine a time when for the majority or all of the year Gage doesn't live with us I know I will be more prepared for it because of his experiences through the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.
 |
| Enjoying a PawSocks game in Rhode Island on a weekend trip. |
~Being a good parent requires knowing when to push & when to back off, when to help & when to let them make mistakes & then being strong enough to watch them go.~
No comments:
Post a Comment