Birds of a Feather

Every year we have the opportunity to house a little family of birds.  And while it's not something that we planned, it's kind of grown on us.  Each summer we listen as a mother bird raises her little family inside our chimney, a reminder that life is persistent in moving forward, laying groundwork for the "passing of the torch" to a new generation.

Each summer begins with a faint and ever so tiny sound of baby birds in our chimney, growing louder with each passing week.  Before we know it, they've gone as mysteriously as they arrived.  It never fails.  We've only been fortunate enough to witness their leaving of the nest once.  They were bumbling about until they found their wings, and then they were gone . . . just like that.

Of course people are quite different from birds, although both do undergo a similar scenario.  Each child eventually finds their wings so to speak, and then they are gone.  Mother Teresa is quoted as saying, "You will teach them to fly, but they will not fly your flight.  You will teach them to dream, but they will not dream your dream.  You will teach them to live, but they will not live your life."  Truer words were never spoken.  She ended her thoughts with these closing words, "Nevertheless, in every flight, in every life, in every dream, the print of the way you taught will always remain."

Each of our children shares a common background, having grown up together in the same home, or nest if you will.  But even so, they are unique individuals, each finding their wings while navigating their way in the world.  Rather than simply becoming a blueprint of their parents, they indeed live their own lives, and in turn are an integral part of their generation.  It makes my heart happy knowing that the future is undeniably theirs.