On to the next adventure…
Originally Published 2020.02.04 (one month before lockdown)

This picture is my absolute favorite of our kids. At the time, “Chewbacca” was six, and “Baby” was four. Their sense of excitement jumps off the page at you as they head toward their next adventure!
Over two decades of living like gypsies (Connecticut, Eastern Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, Western Pennsylvania, and New Jersey), our kids have turned out alright despite our best efforts to screw them up. Through the grace of “42!”
The irony is that both of our kids have returned to New England. Baby working on becoming a doctor, and Chewie is gainfully employed and adulting. Do you know what this means?
“J” and I are now officially:
Empty Nesters!
In a way, the picture above could well be a metaphor for our life together. “J” and I still go through life with the childlike enthusiasm shown by our kids in that amusement park eighteen years ago. It doesn’t matter how old you are; it is about how old you feel. “J” is back in school with her little book bag getting on the bus to the city, and I am running around in hoodies and Pro-Keds. She makes costumes and plays dress up, and I paint pictures with words of far-off adventures in Galilee, Jerusalem, Philippi, and Egypt. And we both like to play house, filling it with lots of friends, food, and laughter.
I hope and pray that “J” and I never stop running about together, hand in hand, toward the next adventure!

