She’s Off for Good

Posted on by tracykard

My wife and I just dropped our 17-year-old daughter off at the airport so she can spend the next 2½ weeks volunteering with a humanitarian organization that’s building schools and teaching English in Cambodia.

Interesting Fact #1: Cambodia is not a suburb of Seattle.

It’s not even in Washington or the Pacific Northwest or the United States or anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. Turns out, it’s a whole other country located just on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Interesting Fact #2: The other side of the Pacific Ocean is 7,367 miles away.

I wish I would’ve known all this geographical stuff before I agreed to let her go, but unfortunately I grew up in America. Now I have to trust she’ll remember to look both ways before crossing the streets and won’t befriend any stray monkeys over there even if they remind her of Boots from Dora the Explorer.

I know she’s going to be fine, but sometimes it’s really hard letting my kids step away from the safety of home. The only way to make this world a little less big and a lot less scary, though, is to boldly venture into it with the intent of doing some good.

Interesting Fact #3: My daughter taught me that.

12 thoughts on “She’s Off for Good”

  1. Reblogged this on Mitch Teemley and commented:
    My Featured Blogger this week is Tracy Kard (not to be confused with kale or shard, or anything else disgustingly healthy) of Eating My Way to the Top. Tracy is NOT, in fact, a chef or a keto diet guru. He IS, in fact, a Seattle-based husband and dad, and one of the funniest bloggers you’ll ever read. He also happens to have a very big heart (but don’t tell him I said that; he’ll just deny it).

    Anyway, the point is: You need to follow him now!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. It is so hard to let go. My last one of five went to college when his brother was deployed. I worried about them both at different intervals and to varying levels of panic.

    Every iota of control over their lives was lost to me. Did I ever have much control to begin with?

    Before he left for deployment, I told the older son, “It doesn’t matter where you are. It only matters what God has planned for you.”

    God bless you, Mitch–and this girl’s mama–and this girl too.

    S

    Liked by 2 people

  4. If you think it was hard to let your daughter go to a place where she might be harmed, think how hard it was for God to let His son go to the cross where He knew Jesus would be harmed.

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  8. I had 5 kids too. 2 were deployed. When the youngest went off to Boot Camp, we were Empty Nesters. Awwww. Sniff sniff. Then it got better, and even better! Then my son came home from Afghanistan and we were saying to ourselves, “Why didn’t we change the locks?!” Maybe he’ll move out again soon. You never know, but I’m glad that he CAN go and live his life without his mommy now.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Well, this made letting our youngest daughter move to New York City feel just a little less scary. Nah, it was still scary. But, at least I can now say I don’t feel like the only dad who has faced this kind of anxiety when their daughter travels to a foreign country. I’m still trying to figure out what language New Yawkers speak? 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  10. This is beautiful, and delightful…your daughter is SO Blessed to have you for a dad. (If she doesn’t mention this frequently, you can tell her! 🙂 )

    Liked by 1 person

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