Categories: uncategorized
Date: 03 August 2011 12:01:12
The Telegraph Education section was something that I realised applied to people like me today. The key dates for university application was one of those things that made me feel like a good parent, even if it is something that Third Party has been keeping abreast of herself with some help from her excellent college tutors.
Then there was A Parents Guide to Avoiding Empty Nest Syndrome. Now I know it is a year away, but I am already struggling with a version of it. Now, I know for me it is going to be a little different to with most people because whatever direction my life goes in the next year is going to be a year of landmarks and changes. But I have to admit the sheer thought of Third Party hitting 18 and flying the nest does fill me with a strange melancholy.
I think the whole thing is puller more clearly into focus by the fact in almost exactly six months I hit the big 40. I have been doing my best all year not to go all Bridget Jones about it all, particularly as TOH points out I do have my own version of Mr. Darcy.
The key I have figured is to do my best to view the next year in terms of an adventure for us all. Both Third Party and I are on journeys to somewhere....but neither of us know where that will be exactly. Oh I know sort of where my base will be but even that has complicating features in terms of hovering questions as to whether it will be my sole base or simply my main base. We are, as a family, entering a year of unknowns punctuated by birthdays that are, apparently, to be celebrated as landmark events.
I know that at the moment uncertainty and change are the watch words for many of my friends and I know, logically, that we are in a better position than many. That is why I want to share again with you a poem I've put up on here before and that I wrote a while ago now in March 2009....God of Adventures:
God takes me on adventures,
Skipping through the trees,
With the sunshine glistening through the branches
and vibrant flowers emerging from below
to temporarily encircle the trunks, solid and constant
God takes me on adventures
Barefoot on deserted beaches
Throwing stones into the sea
On the edge of the earth
As the tide comes in and out
God takes me on adventures
Where sometimes I get a little lost
Taking this turn and that
Finding myself, it seems
Exactly where I started
God takes me on adventures
Where I don’t always want to go
Where I pass by sights that disturb
And leave me feeling helpless
Drained by compassion when I can’t adequately respond
God takes me on adventures
Leading me into the unknown
Finding new paths through the undergrowth
Where the brambles have grown high
And catch my skin as I struggle through
God takes me on adventures
To places that others warn are dangerous
Places where the traveller can’t take
All the comforts of their usual life
And the security they give
God takes me on adventures
To see amazing sights
That dazzel my eyes
And excite my imagination
Through there sheer intensity
God takes me on adventures
Where I meet other travellers
Facinating people with interesting stories
Of their adventures over time
Battling animals, fighting wars and chilling in the sun
God takes me on adventures
Where I learn new skills
New ways of earning my daily bread
New ways of doing things I find hard
New skills I’ll have forever
God takes me on adventures
That I would never attempt without a guide
Through places where cartographers are yet to map
Through places of beauty, pain and struggle
Where every human emotion is found
God takes me on adventures
Does God take you on adventures too?
By Tractor Girl