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| Happy Birthday, Colin! |
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| Throwing caution to the wind? |
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| Adult life is a wild ride, Colin... Pack up those power rangers and hold on tight! |
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| Kindergarten Graduation |
July 31, 2013
To Colin, on the occasion of your 21st
Birthday,
On this
auspicious day, I wish that I could write like a learned British scholar in
order to convey my feelings in a way that would resonate with you for years to
come. Undoubtedly, I will lapse into
tired old clichés, but I have to try. When
I heard your voice on the other end of the phone today, I thought that this bad-day experience was actually a perfect segue into adulthood for you. You, of course, know that we believe you have
been an adult since you turned 18-
legally, I guess everyone else thinks that it’s today. Anyway, when I heard your frustrated voice
and listened to your story, all I could think of was the Australian boomerang I
gave to you in January. Colin, adulthood,
and life for that matter, is a lot like that boomerang,.
Here’s
why adulthood and life are a lot like your boomerang. I know these things because I consulted
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomerang). Did you know that a boomerang is a “thrown
tool designed to circle back to its thrower”?
Colin, I firmly believe that whatever you throw out at the world, it
circles back around and comes after ya. (Okay, I could be
quoting Uncle Ron here, but it is still true!)
Throw love, kindness and compassion whenever possible. Capiche?
Historically, the boomerang is cut from a tree and so are you. You have spent countless hours working on our
family tree, Colin, so you know that you come from sturdy stock. We love and support you always and want YOU
to reap the fruits of love, Faith and joy.
Just as trees have imperfections, so do we…forgive unconditionally. To catch a break in life or a propelling boomerang,
you have to remain open but on the right path.
Be safe for crying out loud and be aware of your surroundings at all times.
According to Wikipedia.org, sometimes boomerangers tune for a flight which involves…
“The
boomerang is then thrown several times to check if it works. The extreme
subtleties of the aerodynamic forces on the light wooden
boomerang make it surprisingly difficult to predict how the finished boomerang
will perform. Two apparently identical boomerangs may radically differ in their
flight patterns. For example they may climb uncontrollably, they may fall
repeatedly into the ground, they may exhibit long narrow pattern non-returning
flight, or display other erratic behaviour. The only sure way to know is to
flight test them.”
I know that you
are doing this now. You may have to do
some sanding as you go. Just keep
tuning. It’s all tuning really. Throwers
HAVE to discern the “wind and launch direction” by facing INTO the wind. This will make you stronger, Colin; I suspect it already has. It’s counterintuitive really, but the more volatile
the wind, the softer the boomerang must be thrown. I’m sorry if I haven’t demonstrated this
principle at times; I think I am just
starting to understand this dynamic myself.
Well, that’s it, Colin. That is how this adult/life business is a lot
like throwing a boomerang. (I’d like to
tell you it’s really more like our screen door at camp. You know the one that leads out onto the
deck, but there would be a lot of holes in that analogy…) Happy Birthday, Colin Thomas Fallon. We love you and remember to go the distance you
will have to make adjustments and minimize the DRAG. No worries!
Love,
Mom
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| It probably would have been better just to post this instead...More wisdom... Fewer words |
