Being the oldest, I was also the first to leave home. On my eighteenth birthday I signed up for the draft and over the course of the next three weeks reached the decision to join the US Navy, come June twelfth I boarded a plane to bootcamp.
I was excited to take my first steps into the unknown world but I don't think Mom and Dad were as ready. It's been a long time but I seem to remember Dad watching me climb the boarding ladder of the plane with a tear in his eye. Mom was looking at him with a smile and I have never been sure if she were smiling at Dad or thinking how much less work she was going to have now that I was gone - one down four to go. Nevertheless, I was gone, out on my own and out of their hair - at least for the next four years.
Over the next four years I met and married Linda, the girl of my dreams and went to war twice. I came home on leave several times and on my honeymoon. When my leave from bootcamp was over I took a bus to my first duty station and again Mom and Dad took me to the station to see me off, this time I watched from the bus window and Dad really did have a tear in his eye actually several.
After my tour in the Navy, Linda and I returned home and continued our life together. We or rather I was up then down then back up and often down again, I hadn't found my place in life. After seven years I sought my fame and fortune in Florida and again Mom and Dad were there to see us off, Dad didn't shed a tear this time but he wasn't too happy about it.
I found my place in life and over the next forty plus years our home was wherever we happened to be. Visits to the old home place were not as often as Mom and Dad liked but that's the way life is at times.
It seemed to be a lifetime before we settled down in Georgia, the boys were in grammar school and Linda and I were tired of moving. Georgia turned out to be a good place to settle, everybody was happy.
Kids leaving home is nothing new, it's expected of them but most don't just up and move hundreds of miles, or more, away but it does happen
Fast forward about thirty years, Lina has been gone eight years now, MJ is about to turn ten and Mathew will be eight a couple of months later. Danny and Marie are doing well in their jobs and Kay and I are enjoying our life of retirement. Unfortunately, Clay and Maggie didn't last as long as I had hoped but that happens sometimes.
After Maggie and Clay split apart, Clay had some problems deciding what his next move was going to be but he eventually worked it out and landed a good job with a local company but though the job was a good one the future was somewhat up in the air. The company was small and family owned, there was that question hanging in the air about what will happen when the owner deicides to retire or sell out. Well, Clay decided to keep his options open.
A recruiter he had worked with kept calling him with opportunities, the positions were all over the country. Some of the companies he would turn down out right while others he would talk to on a phone interview and although they all had their merits none of them tickled his fancy, as they say. Recently one company caught his attention. The recruiter came up with a company in Orlando and after a couple of phone interviews they invited him down for a face to face meeting.
Clay had told me about this prospect a couple of weeks ago but I didn't get the feeling that it would go any further but it did. The next thing I know Clay has posted on Face Book that he is in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The interview turned into a firm offer, and a good one I might add, so Clay jumped on it.
I have to admit that when Clay told me about the impending move I sort of choked up a little, I was even a little bit down for a while. Afterwards, I realized how my own parents must have felt when I left home, how Linda's parents must have felt when I took her away from them. I'm OK now, after all kids have been leaving home since time began, I even know some people who wish their kids would leave home. Clay is a good son and I love him dearly, he's smart and will be an asset to the new company. We have said our goodbyes now and yesterday he drove down to Orlando as his first day is Monday, I wish him well and can't wait to see him when he comes home for Christmas.
On a good note, he is temporarily renting a place with three bedrooms and he will have time to check out all of the local fishing holes in time for a springtime fishing trip.
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