writing his next chapter

Most people go to the mountains in winter.  I like to go to the beach.  My boys go for the steaks and the night life.  I go for the early walk beside the shore. 



I found her shortly after the sun had risen.  This was hello; this was goodbye.



Tomorrow we return our son to his final semester at a university that has brought him joy and expanded his world.  These past four years have taken him to London to study with a top Saatchi & Saatchi executive, into a small classroom (twice) to study with a leading novelist, into conversations about pop culture, Arab music, race and media.  He will have worked with his campus television station for all four years, mostly as a content producer, writer, and trainer.  He will have participated, for two years, in a competitive advertising club.  He will have consolidated friendships that I suspect will last a lifetime.  He will have kept himself on that Dean's list.



He spent this last week at home preparing for his next chapter—researching advertising agencies, writing letters, polishing his resume.



No goodbye is ever easy.  Tomorrow's goodbye feels even more freighted.