Teach Your Parents Well

After living and working in Peru for a year and a half, my daughter Mariel decided to return to the US. She will be living in North Carolina with her boyfriend, looking for a job that pays (versus volunteering) and figuring out what to do with her life which lies wide open before her. At her age, I was also setting up housekeeping with my boyfriend. Compared to her, I had almost no experience of the world. My daughter's already had a "real" job, back when she first graduated from college. I worked a number of low-paying jobs after I graduated and bummed off friends for a place to stay. It wasn't until I moved to New York (and in with my boyfriend) that I got my first legitimate job.

My eldest son Mark joined us for a visit. It was so nice having them at the house together. If only  20-year old "baby" Harry had been there. He was off in Europe on Spring break from a semester abroad in Denmark. Mark is in his senior year at Columbia University, trying to decide what to do post-graduation.

It's not that I envy my children. I'm delighted they have the choices they have with the tools they need to take them in the direction they want to go. My husband and I (he's "the boyfriend" I mention earlier) provided them with a wee bit of incentive to explore the world and to do what you love, something we were never taught as children.

Now's it's time to learn from our children. We still have a few years ahead of us to explore, create, and give back.