Empty-Nest

My youngest just graduated from high school over the past weekend. It is a strange feeling to realize that the house will be empty most of the time now. It has been slowly happening for a few years now, but the finality of it all hit me on Saturday night as I was cleaning the patio after her party. Our life as parents of "dependents" is over. Sure, they will always be our kids, and need something, but they are not dependent solely on us anymore. 

I worry that she is not ready for this type of independence...but then who ever is? When I look back over the past 18 years, I don't want to even admit that she is ready to go. One of our traditions is to make a "Then and Now" board of pictures to show friends and family at the party. There are various pictures of the kids that have eerily similar snapshots of them much older. Melanie playing dress-up as a 5 year old juxtaposed to her prom pictures...sniff, sniff. Melanie in her blow-up swimmies vs. her on the podium at a swim meet. You get the idea...I was amazed at how her interests have remained constant over the years...music, swimming, and culture. 

The most fun I had was talking to adults that know her from her school or at work. To hear their comments about how responsible she is (really?), how confident, smart, clever, diligent, etc. puffs me up with pride. She was selected as the John Phillip Sousa winner in the music department...huh? The band department head spoke of her ability to play almost any instrument with confidence and skill. He asked her to move to tuba this year, and she has excelled. He loved her attitude, her willingness to help her fellow students, and her dedication to being a great musician. This is the girl I can't get to remember to turn her lights off in her room. 

Her senior project was so well accepted not only by the school, but also by the town council of our hometown! I was surprised in an amazing way. More adults want to hear her presentation, buy her book and get to know her because of the topic she selected and the work she put into her project. She even has a job offer for the summer from the Burien Historical Society. She will be presenting her project to the Town Council of our hometown later this summer. She is gaining experience presenting in real situations to high-level officials. I can't be prouder of her.

I can't wait to see what kind of adult she will become while away at school! 

Her graduation party was the highlight for her. She was afraid it was going to be a small affair with just family present because many of her friends were already committed to other events that evening. Well, she still had a crowd of about 40 show up. We almost ran out of food! No, I am kidding...a Wu never runs out of party food. I planned a great finger-food menu of Teriyaki Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Larb Lettuce Cups (never heard of them? Yum!), my Fried Chicken Macaroni Salad (Double Yum), Grilled Shrimp, and sandwich platters. For dessert we had cake (of course), a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN, and later, S'Mores on the patio. We set up the Guitar Hero and had battle after battle. Kids, adults, everyone played. She was impressed with the party and was gushing with thanks to her mom and me...that was a first. She was actually pleased with the outcome! We didn't disappoint her! WooHoo!

I think her pleasure was really based on the fact that it was all about her. She has always felt that she lived in her big brother's shadow, but this week was about her accomplishments, and she finally realized that she measured up. Not that we have made those comparisons, but she had, and she is happy with the results.

Like I said...I can't wait to see how this springboards her to success as an adult. This was the perfect ending to her HS career...now she has the confidence to know she can succeed in college.

Chow!

Where did the time go?

Crap! Leaving for Africa in 6 days and not ready yet. Last time we went to Kenya, I had weeks to prepare and ready my mind, organize my projects, and plan a worthy agenda. Not this time. Too much going on with family events (Melanie's graduation from HS), work events (getting a deal closed), more work events (trying to help a friend start a company), and even more work events (helping another friend start another company). 

I want to bag it all, take two weeks off to meditate, and then figure things out, but I don't have that luxury. It isn't about me anyway...that is what I have to keep telling myself. The busyness of life is Satan's way of keeping my mind off of what is true religion...helping orphans and widows in their distress.  Too often I justify the busyness of my life by calling all this interest "God's blessings". I am not sure that is the truth. I AM sure of what is the truth...the work we do with Christian Relief Fund with AIDS/HIV orphans in Kenya, Tanzania and other places in Sub-Sahara Africa. 

I have 6 days to focus my heart and mind on that. It is tough...everyone seems to want a piece of me lately. 

A group of 6 of us leave Wednesday the 1st of July for Kenya...a group of 13 from Amarillo, TX will join us in Amsterdam along the way. Our mission is to help several groups of AIDS orphans and the men and women ministering to them. Francis Bii in Eldoret is a saint. In two short years (since our last visit), he has fed, educated, cared for, and ministered to hundreds of orphans in the name of God. He is not only taking care of the orphans, but entire villages affected by disease, drought, political strife, or just plain hunger. I am amazed at how much he does with so little we give him. So, when we land in Eldoret, the 19 of us are going to do a few things: 1) build desks for the school he has started; 2) maybe buy the school for him; 3) fund another microfinance project or two; 4) just show him some love to let him know he is not doing things in vain, and that we notice.

The rest of the time we will be back at our favorite place, Kisumu, and the Nyalenda Slum. Jared Odhiambo has turned part of that large slum into a refuge of education, healthcare, spiritual warfare, and normalcy for hundreds of AIDS orphans. The people there need us to help them figure out what is next for their little community...how do we expand what they already do well? How do we commercialize things to make them sustainable? Again, we will turn to Microfinance to see what can be done for the people. We will also do some housekeeping and paint classrooms, repair things, and re-stock supplies as necessary.

I am excited to go. I am unprepared, which is unlike me. I hope a wave of panic hits me soon and drives me to get ready! For now, I need to clear my mind of the clutter that has filled it lately, and focus on what is real.

Chow!