Just thought I would give an update on my journey through this new chapter...
It has been 3 1/2 months now and one quarter of school in the books as a freshman. I can't even begin to explain how proud I am. He moved into his aunt's house with two elementary aged kids, 1100 miles away from home and his family during a national health pandemic. He had to navigate starting a new school, which was only in session in-person for two days a week, while the other two days a week distance learning at home, make new friends. All while playing hockey, finding rides on his own, working out at the gym 3-4 days a week and navigating being on his own and being responsible for himself. He has learned how to do his own laundry, keep his room clean, sometimes helps his cousins with their homework, make his own food and clean up, and still being dedicated to hockey with shooting pucks and stickhandling when he can. He also has found that he is pretty fast and has been running a lot. I guess he is going to beat me now out on the trails. I think he has adjusted to the move really good and he loves being in Minnesota. He has met some wonderful kids and made some good friends. He got to play and get in 20 games in the fall and was on the ice 4-5 times a week which was great considering the state of sports right now and he has progressed nicely. He had to adjust to the speed of the game and has gotten used to the size of the kids. It is different then he is used to but all good. Now we wait to see what is going to happen with the High School season.
Then there's me...
I am finding it was a bit harder...I will say when I hear his voice and see him smiling it makes me happy. As long as he's happy I am happy. But I miss him terribly. The first couple weeks, I cried everyday I'm not going to lie. I couldn't sleep and I still have a hard time sleeping soundly. There is just a different vibe in the house and his brothers had to find a new normal without him here. It has gotten a little bit better over time and Facetime helps but it isn't the same. We all knew it was going to be an adjustment but it has been harder for us then him. We have taken turns to go visit. My family is liking the regular trips back home to see family more often.
I haven't really found a new routine since he's been gone. My life was so scheduled around his hockey and I am not sure what I am supposed to be doing. My oldest is self sufficient and doing online distance learning for high school and my youngest is at school all day everyday. At least my youngest son started Lacrosse and that just finished for the fall and my oldest had baseball for about a month. I went from being a homeschool mom with a busy hockey schedule to laying in bed until noon wondering what I should do for the day. I run 4-5 miles everyday and that's the only thing on my schedule. I am going to have to try to find things to keep me busy again. Maybe like getting back to writing.
So all is good in Minnesota and all is good in North Carolina. We are making it work so far so good. I am proud of how he has transitioned so well.
