The Eagle Has Taken Wing

Perched on the edge of the nest, the mother eagle watches as her young eaglet flaps his wings, and with one last look at his home, takes off and begins to soar. Her nest still has four remaining, but the first one has left the safety of the nest, the protection of his parents, and has set out for new adventure.

Mama Eagle is proud. She has raised him for this moment. She has prayed for him, and will continue to do so. As he dives and then soars through the sky, so does her heart.

Aaron, my second-born has flown the coop, so to speak. He has been planning the leave-taking for a few months, which was nice for me; it gave me time to prepare. When it came down to it, I was ready. It was time.

As he gathered belongings, well, at least a few of his belongings, I began to wonder when the rest of it would go. Now that he had vacated his room, I was making plans. But his stuff, lots of stuff, remained. Childhood treasures and high school mementos, electronic pieces, and lego parts along with a large, but flattened stuffed tiger, and a shelf full of Lord of The Rings figures remained.

Oh, and baseball cards, four loads of laundry, glass bottles (one filled with marbles), a piggy bank, Hardy Boys books, an Ertl Farm and Country set, John Deere tractors, his Pap-Grandma baby blanket, many hunting, auto, and Popular Science magazines, baseball cleats, a cut-out of the Space Shuttle, and two hot rod car posters.





And dust, lots of dust. No wonder he sneezed all the time. He must've dusted his room completely once or twice in 16 years.

Dust bunnies? No. Dust Jackrabbits? No. What he had were Dust Kangaroos. An entire troop of them.
See Evidence exhibit A:

I know. Yuck. Let's just invite the allergies to move in.
But what is a mom to do; it was his room, his domain, his man cave in the making.

I'll tell you what a mom is to do; I am hoping to get it primed tonight. The question is this: Do I clean off all the fingerprints Aaron has left behind or do I leave just a few?

You know, just because.

Just because, the shelf is empty, the closet is mostly empty and I miss him. I miss the way he would run up the stairs to his room, the way he would sit around without a shirt on no matter the weather, the piano playing random songs at random times.

But then, I realize, he's not gone. He's just making his way in the world. Like the Hobbit, he is on an unexpected journey. Well, maybe not exactly unexpected, but a journey, and he is always welcome back at the old homestead.

Aaron has grown into a man of God that I am proud to call my son. So, as difficult is it was, in some ways, to pack up his childhood, I can say with all my heart, "Ascend and take flight!" 


Love,
Dianne

PS.

It's funny, really. I have one eagle who has spread his wings and soared, but it looks like his younger brother is following in his footsteps.