Kirby is moving to Austin. He had an interview this afternoon and signed a contract. He left wearing a suit. Marty helped him tie his tie. I told him his hair looked great. His hair was wonderful. I wish I had taken a picture.
On August 27 at 10:00 he's to report for work in Austin.
Between now and then lots of things happen, but two are particularly notable to me. On July 29, Kirby turns 21 years old. On that day, I will have been a mom for 21 years.
On August 16, which would have been his last day at work in Albuquerque (the contract ends that day), he and I are flying to Sacramento for the HSC conference. I'm a keynote speaker, and he's doing a workshop on games based on history, and he'll be on a panel, and I'll be on a panel....
I'm hugely relieved that we had planned to do that together, without knowing he might be moving. It's like magic, that I get an out of town trip with a stay in a nice hotel with Kirby at a time that turns out to be one week before he moves away from home. We didn't know, when we planned it, anything about the Austin possibility.
For Kirby as a man, this is the end of the beginning of his life.
For me as a mom, this is the beginning of the end.
Sniff, sniff. So happy but yet so sad. My eyes runneth over.
ReplyDeleteOh, Sandra.
ReplyDeleteIt might sound cheesy (or even like a lie), but reading this post really did bring tears to my eyes.
I wish you and your family all the best. How are Holly and Marty taking the happy/sad news? :-)
Marty wants to help him move, because he's been wanting to go on a road trip anyway.
ReplyDeleteHolly is out of town, so only knew of it a little, and did NOT want him to move. So when I found out I called her to talk to her about it. She really likes Kirby, and likes that she hangs out with her brothers and their friends. I think I cheered her up some, telling her Kirby was really feeling good about the move. She asked about his girlfriend, and I said she had said she might apply to grad school at UT in Austin. They can still do WoW raids together.
If Kirby doesn't like it there, he can come home. That made Holly and me both feel better.
A little over $200 round trip. Could be worse.
Congratulations to Kirby. I wish we were able to go to HSC this year to see you both. What sort of work will he be doing?
ReplyDeleteClient service / tech stuff, which he's doing here, but the contract wasn't renewed so they're offering some of the best of them to keep working it elsewhere. It has to do with computers and games so he's happy.
ReplyDeletewow... wow... WOW! Please tell him I was only joking when I told Marty I couldn't wait for Kirb to move out so we could move in! :) Pretty exciting, this growing up-ness - for all of us!
ReplyDeleteThanks to you and Kirby for sharing so much of your "story." Sad that he is leaving, but happy that he is freely choosing his path, knowing there is always a path home. What better way to set out? And many in cyberspace rooting for him and you all the way.
ReplyDelete:)
Congrats to Kirby; Austin is a fantastic town (I can't hardly think of it as a city!). Such a great music scene, too.
ReplyDeleteBut how hard, as a mom . . .
Nice for Kirby to know he can always go home, if Austin isn't his cup of tea.
Nice, too, that Southwest Airlines flies between the two cities =).
How cool for Kirby!
ReplyDeleteYep, having that first one leave home is surreal. Watching them out on their own is so very cool, tho!
I look at Will (22 now) and see all the ways his life is different from mine at 22. At his age, I was a (his) Mom, my life was chaos, and I'd never lived alone (still really haven't). He has his own place, a girl he loves, and a job he really enjoys.
It's not the beginning of the end of being a Mom, it's just the beginning of the next stage.
Ahhh...this news makes me happy for Kirby but sad too. I hope he loves Austin and you get to visit with him often.
ReplyDeleteWell, a very happy birthday to Kirby today. I worked on my first movie shooting in Austin (Love and a .45) and I have a lot of fond memories. Of course I started thinking Austin is SOOO FAR AWAY, but then I realized that it is not quite as far from Alb. as it is from LA.
ReplyDeleteVery best of luck to him.
Robyn C.
It's still pretty far. Very far. But he's looking forward to it, and I think of how much worse a parting can be and how many greater distances there are in the world, and so I smile.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad for him to have the opportunity.
He's a July 29, so I'll save that greeting (or I'll pass it on and he can save it!).
Aw dang....it's so sweet and so sad all at the same time. Trevor is trying to make some decisions about his near future, which seem to be the beginning of the end around here.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me sad about how fast it all goes, but happy for the new things he is discovering and learning.
Austin is a great place. I bet he'll have a lot of fun.