Ace goes to college:

Ace goes to college:

..dropped of Ahsan to college
my first child moves on
out of my house - his home
and into a new address
heading into manhood
striving for adulthood
en-route to a full citizenship of this world
So tell me O world of time and space
when does a child become a man?
Is it when he moves out of our space, or
when he alone decides what to do with his time?
Is it when his mom no longer cooks him dinner, or
when he dorms in a roomful of strangers?
Fortunately,
youth is an insulation from deep thought and emotion
that allows him to move onward
while I stand frozen
even as I consider his future.
Its amazing that these pangs of nervousness that I feel for him
are not reflected in him
nor were they in mine as I stood at the same threshold
some thirty years ago.
The realness of those words hits me now
'your children are entrusted to your care for a short time, but beware
you don't own them'.
Its funny because when you first get them, they are yours,
unquestionably
irrevocably
and
delightfully.
Now suddenly after establishing claim, fidelity, loyalty and love
you get to set them free...
...of you.


Aug 2013