This past week, Chuck and I left Chloe and Bennett to fend for themselves (for the first time ever) in Colorado while we flew to North Dakota to visit Gavin for a few days. It's such a weird phase of life. Our kids need us and wants us - but they don't really need us that much. They are all perfectly self-sufficient. They cook for themselves, drive themselves places, clean up after themselves (most of the time), look out for each other. I know that's the ultimate goal of parenthood - to work yourself out of a job, but it's weird getting used to. You spend the majority of their lives doing and being everything for your children. Now we're here on an "as needed" basis. It's equally as challenging, exciting, and scary as the first phase of parenting. You want them to know you trust them. You have to give them freedom to prove it. You want them to make mistakes while they're still living with you so you can be there to catch them. You want them to want you as they grow older, not breathe a sigh of relief that they're no longer under your watchful eye. That's one reason why we were so happy that Gavin was just as excited about us coming to visit as we were.
The evening we arrived we went straight to his favorite pizza joint and then walked around the famed Broadway street downtown Fargo.
Gavin also took us to an incredible city park located just behind his apartment called Island Park that he said he enjoys walking around each evening. This is the view from his apartment complex.
The next morning, Chuck and I walked 16 blocks from the Airbnb house we were staying at Gavin's apartment. Chuck assumed his role as breakfast maker. Also, you see those baggies filled with cookies? My sweet boy baked homemade chocolate chip cookies for our visit. Proof of his undying love and devotion.
I was tickled to see the Meal Planner list that we came up with when he moved in taped so neatly to his kitchen wall. His apartment was spic-n-span. He cleaned it so nicely - and even made his bed (1 of only 5 times, we were told, since he moved in).
After breakfast, Gavin wanted to show us the two local malls. The one in Fargo was very nice, especially since we were able to find him a new pair of jeans. The one in Moorhead, right across the river was depressing, blah, and outdated. It was so incredibly ugly and bad and depressing. The tag line above the mall sign said, "Another great place to shop".... if you're living in the 50s, maybe. It was here that we found a dilapidated antique mall where Chuck found himself modeling an original sombrero.
After all the excitement of the Moorhead Mall, we headed over to an Indian restaurant so we could have enough energy for our campus tour that afternoon.
We went directly to the engineering buildings first.
This was his circuits lab.
We even found a basement full of pool tables on campus. After the campus tour, we went grocery shopping for Gavin and then came home and watched a movie.
The next morning we went to two art museums. This one was filled with Political Cartoons throughout American history. It was super fascinating.
This is a large, real life replica of a Viking ship that is house at the Hjemkompst Museum in Moorhead. That entire area of North Dakota and Minnesota was settled mostly by Norwegians and German-Russin immigrants. This particular ship was built in the 1980s and actually sailed to Norway and back.
I can't believe our boy is so big now. I can't believe he lives on his own. I can't believe he lives so far away from us. I can't believe what an awesome young man he has become. But on the other hand I can believe it all. How could it have turned out any other way. He was an awesome, amazing kid. Of course he'd be an awesome, amazing young adult. He always talked of living in some far off place when he was a kid, so it's no surprise that he lives where his heart is. He may be far away, but he's always close to my heart. We talk all the time. He comes home when he can. He loves sharing his world of Fargo with us and we loved seeing it through his eyes. How lucky are we?!
