Let me give a little disclaimer at the outset: This post will only make sense to those who know my family reasonably well. My apologies.
So...what I did...
I dropped Nate off at school this morning. Yes, I know it's Saturday.
I dropped Nate off so he could go to his first chess tournament today.
All day.
8 AM until he gets dropped off at home at 6:30 PM.
Released to the chess coach.
Riding in a van for 25 minutes with the other middle school players.
Riding in a van for 25 minutes with some high school players.
Checking in at the tournament; at a place he's never been before.
5 rounds of chess.
Downtime with kids from other schools in between rounds.
Awards ceremony.
Carrying money in his pocket.
Buying his own pizza for lunch.
Stopping for fast food with the team on their way home.
Nate WANTED to go.
He knew that all of the above would be involved.
He knew that his best friend, Logan, would not be going.
He knew there would be no sleeping in today.
He knew he would be gone ALL day.
And he WANTED to go.
No hesitation.
No fear.
No anxiety.
He's just doing it.
And mom is fine. Flabbergasted, but fine.
My boy is coming into his own,
And we are amazed
And grateful.
To all of you who have come alongside our Nate,
who have loved him and helped him,
who have joked around with him,
and kept running conversations with him over months and years:
This is your triumph too.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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10 comments:
wow! what a wonderful day for the record books! great job, nate, on growing up. and wonderful job, mom, for encouraging, supporting and loving him to the point where he feels SAFE and SECURE to explore the world around him!
We rejoice with you Megs. This is huge. Hugs to our little buddy :).
Wow - this is such great news to hear about and it has been great to have watched Nate come into his own over the last number of years.
Oh my!!!! I will make the understatement of the day...
I'm so GLAD for all of you!
Now, please excuse as I suddenly have to blow my nose...
Love,
Les
Major milestone! What a great accomplishment for Nate. Very cool.
Of course this may well mean more letting go for you Meg. Once they find success and branch out, they usually look for more opportunities. You should both be proud! Gina
What a major accomplishment Nate. Way to go Mom and Dad for the continued effort.
Ken Berg
We are cheering for the Clay's!!!!
How awesome to see our kids/your kids step out, little by little but yes Nate can do it!!!!
You should have seen him at the Super Bowl Sunday, Nate and our Matthew...
Praise the Lord who was with each of you every step of the way! :o)
I can't wait to hear more about his experience. We love adventures!
~carrilee & henry
Way to go Nate! Mr. Telling and I are so proud of you. BIG HUG! Please tell us all about it when you see us at church next time.
To Mom and Dad: we are proud of you too. God Bless each of you. Tim and Heid
i didn't tell you this on that day, but walking into that room almost made me cry. seeing nate, so involved in something he loved, and all by himself...i got VERY teary eyed.
I was scared of that school. Me. Big, 16-year-old Cami. And there's my baby, not-so-little brother, was doing something like that.
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