Life goes on in Muddling Through As Best I Can

Well, things have been eventful since I last posted. Not bad, just eventful. To start; Brad moved out, somewhat against his will. Things were just not working out with him at home anymore. He refused to work, wouldn't pay his bills, wouldn't help around the house, and took every opportunity he could to argue with me. I finally told him enough is enough, if you're too old to abide by my rules, then you're too old to live with me any longer. In the month since he moved out, he's now working every day, paying most of his bills on time, and we actually don't argue any longer. Honestly, I don't argue with my kids; they either mind...or well, they just mind. Like I said, he's grown. If he can't live by my rules, it was time to get his own place and set his own rules. He is rooming with a couple that he's been friends with since primary school and another young woman, Shea. This is my one (unvoiced) concern. Shea is a nice young woman with a 19 month old little girl, Sienna (pronounced Say-ahna). She and Bradley are now planning to get married and Sienna is already calling him "Daddy" and they're teaching her to call me "Grandpa". I have no major problems with them being a couple...but engaged after a month? Help me maintain my tongue Lord. Sienna is not an issue for me. I wouldn't be a father if it weren't for adoption, and it changed my life immeasurably for the better. Like any parent, I sometimes want to strangle them, but they are my life and I wouldn't change a second of the last 33 years. I have loved each of my sons completely and can't imagine what my life would have been without any of the four of them. But again, Shea is a sweet young girl, and Brad seems finally to be showing signs of adulthood. If they wait a while and take enough time to be sure of one another, I would adore having her for a daughter in law, and Sienna as a granddaughter. Dad just worries too much I guess. The next news on the agenda: BRIAN IS GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL! After all these years of raising kids, the last one is finishing school. I can't believe it. How can it have been such a long time (over three decades!) and yet passed by in the blink of an eye? I have to confess to major mixed feelings on this. I am excited to be able to look around and think about focusing on some of the things I want to do for myself over the next few years, but I also wonder what will I do with a house devoid of my family on a daily basis? I am a widower with no wish to remarry, so it looks like a lot of time to fill. I've been a family man since 1981, I don't know what else to do with myself at this point. I've only been "Daddy" for so long that I kind of define myself that way. Time to redefine myself as the father of grown and independent young men. I still have a lot of years to be Grandpa though, and so far it's a blast. I do know these truths though: Family grows and changes, but they remain your family; Nothing stays the same forever, roll with it; and last but not least; God has a plan.