Letting go...

There is a tree in our "backyard." It is not really in our backyard, but it sits in the middle of a huge field right behind our house. It is a great tree. As a family we have walked out to it several times over the years. It is a climbing tree. A tree for tree houses. Good for swings and club meetings. Part of what makes it so great is the fact that it is in an undeveloped field that gets plowed only once a year. This time of year the grass is growing tall around the tree. It is truly a beautiful site out our kitchen window.

(Transition)

Jacob turns 8 in a couple days. My oldest is growing so fast. This past week we let him and a friend go out to the tree by themselves! There they started a club, but are not sure what for. They like to play hide-and-go-seek in the tall grass. There try to climb the tree to see the remains of an old fort it once held. They even tried to ride their bikes through the field to get to the Tree.

When Jake is at the tree he is the farthest away from me he has ever been, while completely unsupervised! For a control freak father this is a little nerve raking. But it has to be done. He has to grow up. He needs to hang out with his friends and be a boy! What more could a group of 8 and 9 year boys ask for: 1) an open field in which to play 2) a tree to offer protection from raiders, buccaneers and space aliens 3) a irrigation channel with water in it! This is all boy paradise, even when the girls do show up.

I long for the days when "The Brothers" will reminisce about the field and the Tree with their own children. Both will be larger than life. I am sure they will recall legendary battles, heroic feats and great explorations (they have already found a duck egg and a big bone). The Tree will be mythic in their minds, as will the vast plains of the field. This is how it should be. This is what I want for them. I would have it no other way, despite my unease.

Now starts the slow pull of life changing my boys into men.