In reality, I don’t believe my mother, or my father shed many tears when I went off to college. I would come home for breaks, mess with their lives for a bit, and then nip back to Kalamazoo.

When I graduated, my first and I had already announced our plans to wed in May. I graduated in April. I believe it was around the 23rd. Mom had come to help me move out of my dorm, and then back to Keeler.

The next day I got out of bed, came downstairs….mom met me in the living room with, “So. When are you moving out?”

For some, that might seem a bit harsh, but that was just the way mom talked. She could be very direct. As I said, I was to be wed in a couple of weeks. Mom just wanted to know what my plans were. I packed up and was out by the end of the week

This began my traveling around the country with wife, and child in tow. And then a few years later, newly divorced, I moved, got married again, was instrumental in the birth of two more kids to match the one I had from my first marriage. Annnnnnnd….after a few more years…..lather, rinse, repeat….and repeat…..and repeat, and repeat….without adding more children with each move.

Eleanor loved to travel. She loved to going places. Her and Robert Earl sold their house and belongings after I moved out and bought a 5th-wheel trailer and a truck to pull it. They went west, they went south, they went north. Until they couldn’t go any longer. They sold the truck and trailer and moved back to Michigan. Dad died, Mom moved on with her life. She went bowling, she went to the casino, she walked, she line danced. She was in her glory.

So. This has been told before. Why retell it?

Because I need to remind myself how much of a rock star my mother was. Both her and my father were. Good people, hard working, honest, who raised two normal sons, and a whackjob.

I will let you decide which is which….