This last Sunday was the last water skiing day I am going to have this summer with my son Matthew. We as a family had a wonderful day at the lake on Sunday. We had friends over and the kids spent the better part of the day in the boat with dad skiing and wakeboarding. As the day winds down I am putting the boat under cover and tying it up I realize that this is the last time I will be on the lake this summer with my son and his friends. I know he will be back next summer, but I also know he will come back a different young man. He will taste the freedom and the growing that comes with the first year of college. He will never be my little son again and I will miss this huge part of life that raised two young sons.

I take my son to college with much pride and much inner saddens. He is moving on with his life and education. This is what any parent wants for their children. I am still sad that I will miss out on his day to day life like when he was living at home and in high school. I enjoyed his friends and we attended so many football, tennis, and basketball games over these last 12 years of school. I want him to move on but I don’t want to give him up just yet.

My son has a dog named Truman. So named because the buck stops here from President Truman. He was supposed to keep the deer out of our yard. He has given up!!! Lost cause.

The dog waits for Matthew at the end of the driveway and sleeps in his bed room. When Matthew goes off to college he will sit at the driveway and wonder what has happen to his owner for the next month. It will be so sad for Truman.