The Inevitable

By all accounts, Finnian is not what you might call effusive.  His homeschool buddies decided to make a cardboard cut-out of him to bring to the various homeschool end-of-year events (I hesitate to call it a graduation, but it kind of is).  The big joke was, how could you tell?  Now, in fact, Finnian has a fantastic personality and is drop dead funny when he chooses to be and I get on him about being too stingy with sharing this side of himself.  But he can have a stoic look.  Last night as we headed towards JFK where he was to board plane to Italy with the intention of staying for a year, Lucy said, "So, are you scared??"  He said, "I'm panic stricken!"

Here is what he looked like:

Coolness personified.

By the time we parted ways, there were tears on all sides, however.  I wasn't quite prepared for just how much it would feel like a piece of my insides had been ripped from me.  And the heart break…it is real feeling not just a metaphor.  Ouch.

Talking with a friend recently, we agreed that just about every human endeavor ends in heart break.  Think about it - it all ends in heart break.  In a way, it is comforting because it means that shielding your heart is no longer a reason not to do something - whether you shield it or not, it will end in heart break, so just go ahead and do it.

But this kid thing, man.  It's like a living encyclopedia of heart break.

This morning, he texted me that he had landed safely in Madrid and had managed to rustle up both coffee and food.  I see by the online flight tracking (not that I am obsessively checking it or anything), that he is almost halfway to Rome now.  He will spend a couple of nights in Rome before heading to Verona where he will meet up with his first WWOOFing host.  

Much adventure lies ahead.

PS.  As we waited in the ticketing line, I said, "You know, you are going to get really buff doing all that farm work.  Have you considered that?"  Finn's answer, "Yes."  (see first photo above for facial reaction)