![\"The](\"http:\/\/menafterfifty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/munchkin.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>The Good Old Days<\/p><\/div>\n
My Daughter Is Leaving Home & Joining The Air Force\u00a0& I’m An Empty Nester!<\/h2>\n
My daughter, Alana, turned eighteen earlier this month and four days later I watched her be sworn into the Air Force and get on a plane for Air Force Boot Camp in Lackland, Texas<\/p>\n
They say it’s harder for mothers than for fathers to deal with a child leaving home and becoming an empty nester. \u00a0I’m not sure that I agree. \u00a0While my ex-wife has probably shed more tears than I have, the bond between father and daughter is a very special, very deep one. \u00a0And I’ve had my share of tears as well.<\/p>\n
She’s my baby and always will be. \u00a0I can still remember cutting the cord on the day she was born. \u00a0Actually I remember having to cut it TWICE<\/strong> because the thing was so tough! \u00a0And my daughter is tough, so I’m really not worried about her being okay in Air Force Boot Camp or in the world.<\/p>\n She’s sweet, kind, friendly, smart, beautiful (it’s all true, not a father’s bias, I swear) and TOUGH<\/strong>. \u00a0It was HER<\/strong> decision to join the Air Force, but more about that later. \u00a0So it’s not that I’m worried about her, I have no doubt she’ll come through with flying colors and I can’t wait to attend her Boot Camp graduation and her Coin Ceremony.<\/p>\n It’s just that I’ll miss her. \u00a0She’s been in my life consistently for over eighteen years. \u00a0There really aren’t that many people that have been around much longer than that in my life that I’m still connected with. \u00a0Certainly no one that I love as much as I love her.<\/p>\n We have shared so many experiences beyond the basic walking and talking. \u00a0I remember putting her in the pool at six months and teaching her to love the water. \u00a0She’s been fearless ever since!<\/p>\n I was the one who took her to the Emergency Room when she was three and cracked her head against a sprinkler and had to get staples put in. \u00a0I was the one that took her to Sunday School every week for years and years and years.<\/p>\n I was the one who danced with her at Cotillion (which I had never heard of before, but it was fun to watch her learn to dance and master the social graces). \u00a0I was the one who was so proud as she became a Bat Mitzvah (though I still think she did it for the party and the presents).<\/p>\n I was the one who let her drive my car for six months getting Driver’s Education credits towards her license. \u00a0I was the one who took her for her driver’s test and saw her face light up impossibly bright when she passed the test! \u00a0And then, I was the one that was stressed knowing that my daughter was sixteen and driving in Los Angeles!<\/p>\n I was the one wondering who this beautiful young woman was going to her High School Prom in a limo with a boy! \u00a0I was the one not understanding how I could have a child old enough to graduate from high school!<\/p>\n Also, I was the one doing my best to not spoil her and set limits and put up with all of her teenaged, adolescent rebellion and testing. \u00a0And testing! \u00a0And testing!!<\/p>\n