Fly Away, Little Bird

My stepson and daughter are moving out – all in the same week. Piles of clutter waiting to be sorted are everywhere and boxes litter every room in my home. Secretly, I’m glad for the distraction.

Between listening as my stepson gives instructions on how to enroll him for classes in 2015 and arranging for my daughter’s U-Haul, I’m painfully aware that my kids are leaving home. For good.

My husband will soon stand and watch as his boy walks through security at the airport and leaves for a two-year mission to Mexico. It pains me to know he’ll stand at that same spot two years from now, looking for his boy. Instead, he’ll welcome home a man.

I’m trading Pinterest posts with my daughter, helping her decorate a kitchen the size of a postage stamp. And with every piece of Ikea furniture we assemble, I realize she’s leaving my nest for good to begin a home of her own. Suddenly, my nest feels empty.

I’m writing about my kids growing up and moving out and how it feels to help them make lives of their own. You can read about it in my latest column for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. http://t.co/zDQYzqxSuo

Grace Is the Answer

The hardest questions in life are those to which there are no answers. We spend a lot of time asking why. I’m trying to remember that the better question is how. And, when there are no answers, the best response is that of grace.

I’m writing about hard questions, hard circumstances, and the profound impact of grace in my latest column for The Arizona Republic. Follow the link to read more, http://t.co/s0rTot5LI9

Tragedies Create Sense of Family

The tragedies in Boston and Texas showed us the worst of humanity. They also showed us the best. These events demonstrated that from Boston to Bellingham, Wash., and Texas to Temecula, Calif., we come together as a family.

Together, we grieve. Together, we remember. And, together, we get up to keep running the race. It’s what families do. It’s what countries do, too.

Martin Richard. Photo: amsdaily.net

I’m writing about it in my latest column for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/20130419cagle-tragedies-remind-us-were-one-family.html?nclick_check=1