Four Generations on Change - Part 2

Guest Post by Donna VanderGriend

2.  Mid-life Change
One of our family’s mid-life couples fulfilled a decade-long dream lately when they sold their home and cars and material goods, down-sized to two bike panniers each, and took their two junior high boys bicycling in Europe.  In four months they covered 1200 kilometers that included the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and England.  The second half of their dream was to move to Florence, Italy for the school term, put their sons in an Italian immersion school, soak up history and culture and cuisine, and touch the foot of Michelangelo's David.  The grandmother in me worried that so many changes for our grandsons bordered on brutal.  However, after a few months in Italy, bureaucratic circumstances brought them back home for three weeks.  Caleb, our twelve year old explained:  “I think I feel like Frodo and Sam when they finally got back to the Shire after going through so much -- and everyone that had stayed in the Shire had no idea what experiences they had been through -- so life for them was still normal.  Frodo and Sam had changed so much and nobody knew.”

His mother asked, “Is that okay with you?

“Yeah, it’s okay, Mom,” Caleb responded…as my mental picture flips to Frodo walking down the pier to take the ship bound for the afterlife.