A fathers love and strength of letting his son fly

Ty leaves today at lunch time to begin life as an adult and shake off the shoes of childhood. Please keep both father and son in your thoughts and prayers.

A special thank you to Aubrey for if she hadn't posted a very heartfelt slide show I wouldn't have ever heard the song that was just so fitting to Ty's experience he's fixing to embark on...

Ty tried to get us last night to promise him no tears. That's a hard promise to make I I didn't make it to him. As I see Ty's readiness to jump into the unknown we call life I look at Tim and I relive the past couple of short years. Tim and Ty have had great ups and downs in the time I have known them but it's the years before that come to my minds eye that I think on. My time with the both of them has just been a hiccup in time. Ty has lived these last few years wanting freedom and independence but Tim has weathered storms much greater in the last 19 years and some of those years by himself and then quite a few with a wonderful woman that helped him love and raise a child.

As last night ended I walked on my own out into the parking lot and saw that special woman quietly try and slip away. Reliving her own memories I can only imagine with two special people she shared a life with once upon a time and in a sense, will always. As I caught her before leaving we chatted a bit and I could tell she was trying like hell to keep it together. My reason for catching her before she left was to explain something to her. While sharing our time at dinner she made a few comments of taking pictures of me, Tim and Ty and as I always love capturing our special moments together I just couldn't bring myself to intrude on "their" moment. That's how I felt anyway. To be a parent is a special privilege and even though she didn't conceive Ty she helped nurture and grow what Ty will ultimately turn out to be. In my heart I couldn't intrude on that. At that point she did get emotional and stated that that was true but I got what was left and in that moment I was glad I made the choice that I did. I told her that I got what was left but it was something that was not mine to accept. I've never been the type to take credit for work that was not done by me. So many people helped to shape Ty into the person he is today and this woman made a forever lasting impression right along with Tim in the heart of that boy. I'm just honored enough to be able to witness it.

So as I look at Tim today as he does what one day I will have to I know all the last 19 years will flash before him as Ty takes his steps onto the bus that will lead him onto a new path. I will smile when looking at them both as they relive memories of loved ones, times and emotion through it all. I will also think on my own time with a teenager that drove his father crazy but when it came down to it changed a grown man into something he though he would never be. A loving father with a love that knows no bounds and a heart of gold.

And I still won't promise not to cry.......