Something Right

 Wandering through my house, as I tend to do after having contracted the disease that seemingly everyone else on the planet seems to have had or is about to have, I stopped in what felt to me like the geographic center of our home. In front of the bookcase in the living room, the one closer to the kitchen. I stood there for a moment trying to assess my feelings. At the top of the pile was the physical rot of COVID with its lethargy and snot. That was obviously weighing on me, but there was something just below it. Something much bigger. 

Two years ago, my son moved back home, our home, to wait out the very uncomfortable and perplexing moments after being released from college with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in theater, smack in the middle of a global pandemic when theaters were closing their doors and jobs in America were disappearing. This resilient little cuss built himself a batcave in the basement, and began to piece together his life. Life on hold. 

There were days when we had to walk around that not-so-fresh feeling of having our adult son living downstairs. It became apparent to us all rather quickly why people tend to leave their family home after a certain age. Friendly reminders to pick up one's room or to take out the recycling have a certain sting once you pass the age of twenty-one. Reminders to eat a salad were met with good humor and sense, and his mother and I want to believe that there were a number of good habits reinforced. 

Because now it's time to get ready to empty the nest again. Our little boy worked and worked at what his parents told him was the hardest job of all: finding a job. He did it. And he will be starting out at a salary higher than his father's was when he started teaching. He played this one just right. I was pleased and proud and relieved. So was his mother. So was he. 

And while I was standing there in front of the bookcase, trying to decide if it was worth blowing my nose one more time, I realized that I was sad. Sad to see him going off to live with some of his friends who had also recently unlocked the job puzzle. Starting a life so rudely interrupted by a plague. Sad to see him go but overwhelmed by the excitement. 

I will always treasure this break in the normal broadcasting day, the one that gave us a chance to solidify connections. Not that I doubted them, but was so pleased to discover that we all really like each other after all of this sturm und drang. I know that he can find his way home again, if he needs to. I know that he loves his family. I know that I will miss him when he's gone. 

We must have done something right.