Flying the Coop
by Miracle Chasers on 05/19/12
In 1988 Gene and I cashed in our limited nest egg and set off to start a new life leaving Las Vegas for Northern California. At the time, I was five months pregnant with our daughter, Alyssa. As moving day approached, my back, which had sustained numerous fractures after the birth of our son, David, started sending shooting pains down my leg. “Bed Rest” the doctor ordered. I laughed out loud at him, wondering what bed he could possibly have in mind as mine was at that moment being loaded onto an 18-wheeler headed west. He said he understood and wondered how could I be moving now with my maternal nesting instincts in high gear.
I recently reflected on these conversations as I went back to Las Vegas this March for Miracle Chase book events and reconnected with the friends who have held a special place in my heart for so long. Over the years, Gene and I moved again several times and each time I recreated a new nest (though fortunately not while pregnant), an oasis for our family to grow and our friends to visit.
One spring, at our home north of Boston, a mother robin took up residence in the window box outside of our mudroom and each day I would check on her progress as she feathered her nest in preparation for the new arrivals. Over the next several weeks, I watched as she patiently sat with her baby birds leaving only with a squawk of warning as she went off to gather food. Later as the baby birds flew off, I watched as the nest was abandoned.
With the upcoming high school graduation of our youngest son, Gregory, and with his college choice some 3000 miles away from our home, all of a sudden, like Katie and Meb before me, I will have the experience of the proverbial empty nest. As I reflect on what that will mean, I realize most of all it’s a time of transition, one of life’s BIG events. I am excited about this change. And I know I need to take time to recognize the significance of this moment; it’s an opportunity to begin the next chapter of my life with a new slate - and I do mean new, no way am I cleaning the old slate, there is too much life experience written there to ever erase! I am reminded of Robert Frost’s line, “But I have promises to keep/And miles to go before I sleep…” I will be busy, just traveling to the east coast to visit our three children and numerous family members could be a full time job, but rediscovering those promises to myself and continuing to write and research, not only miracles, but friendship as well seems to be what my next calling entails. A new friend shared a quote from Wendell Berry that challenges me, “The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.” This is my goal for the next year to let the song that comes from my nest be one of wonder, of engagement and joyfulness…
Unlike the mother robin, whose nest was abandoned and I think probably forgotten, I will strive to rule my roost in a new and thoughtful way, hoping that over the years my adult children and their families will return like the swallows to Capistrano feeling nourished and secure knowing they have been loved. Joan
