Bon Voyage, Life as We Know It!

June 18, 2014.  Let the lies begin.

Tomorrow morning, as I head with old friends to the Ozarks, Allison will head to Costa Rica, for an 11-day adventure that includes kayaking and sea turtles, humidity and zip lines. The only thing our vacations will have in common is the humidity.

While it's true that I have no idea what's in store for me down in the Missouri hollers (Andy Williams is dead, after all), I have a thousand more questions about Allison's time away from home.  Will she get sick?  Find food she can eat?  Will others annoy her?  Will she hurt herself or be lonely?

Not that I'm voicing these questions to her.

And that's where the lying comes in.

I would sooner eat my hand than tell Allison of all the challenges that I suspect await her.  And, long after she's nudged the last sea turtle to water,  those challenges will just keep on coming for pretty much the rest of her life, picking up intensity in August when she moves to campus.

Does it make me a bad parent that I keep these things to myself?  Are Mark and I cruel for wanting her to stretch her wings and struggle a bit?  For not warning her ahead of time that things might get hairy?

Depending on the day, Mark and I can seem downright giddy as we anticipate this next chapter of Allison's life.  Like a young sea turtle angling its way to the waters, Allison is in charge of this new path she will make for herself and our job is to stand on the sidelines, occasionally shouting our encouragement as she manages all the challenges.  And we couldn't be happier for her to face them.

Along the way, I suspect Mark and I will lie--or at least withhold evidence--at an astounding rate, telling her she'll be fine, saying it's no big deal to travel between campuses, wishing her well as she figures out Calculus 106.  These are her mysteries and I'm not sure we'd do much good if we walked in front of her as she navigated them.

Enough, then, with providing Allison shelter.  Enough with walking beside her or helping her forge the path.  It's time for bald-faced lies, sideline cheers and a house suddenly void of a young woman's messes.

It's time for the next chapter.  For all of us.