Letting go of the String....

When is it that we become an adult....and let loose the hold on our youth. I saw it today in my son's eyes and I cried. Today he sold his motorcycle that he bought 7 years ago. It was a 2003 Anniversary Edition Harley Davidson bike. It is a beautiful Burgundy and he took care of it as if it were a child. I will never forget the day he bought it, he and a friend went to Indiana to pick it up and bring it home. My kids knew my dislike of motorcycles and I had always threatened them as any good parent would do with " If you want a bike it will have to be when you are not living here, I wont allow it." Well it was that thought that started all the trouble. I remember him coming home and telling me, and his brother being so excited but before I could fulfill my threat he just knew I was mad and took off. His brother defended him by saying that I told them if they ever brought a bike home they would be out....so out he stayed... and he didn't speak to me. It took a couple of days to smooth things over and though I was not pleased with what could be potentially life threatening....I saw the bike and it was beautiful. I even rode on the bike, but the beauty was in Bill's face and the pride that he had shown in being able to buy it in the first place and he rode it with confidence and pride. He made double payments on it, and took extreme care when he drove it. I can still feel the ground rumble and I knew without looking that it was him and the sound of the thunder that it created. He was home and he was safe.

Well life has a way of creeping up on you and today he stands with 3 little faces looking out the window at him and a fourth on the way. He is Dad, he is responsible and he is an adult. I can only imagine that as we pass from childhood to young adult to adulthood, it is like holding a handful of balloons and you hold tight to the strings and keep them from bursting or flying away. As we let go of some of our dreams we let go of some of our balloons. Today Bill loosed the hold on the string of that Burgundy balloon and sold his bike and freed a dream. There will come another time, another day, he may have another bike sometime, but it will never be like this one. This bike was born of his youth and paid for with young adulthood and sacrifice and sold with love. I stopped by as the new owners were loading it into their trailer and his face spoke volumes. Gone was the youth and before me stood an adult man with responsibilities watching from the window and how he handled this situation will forever mark him in their eyes as a Dad who sacrificed what he loved one day for the family he will love forever. At that moment in time he was my 19 year old son stuck in a 28 year old body. I love his spirit and strength and unselfishness and I marvel at the man he has become.