Life has been a little surreal around my home lately. Logan (the youngest) moved back home, now he is moving back out again. One of my best friends moved back to Tampa and we are sharing the apartment. We joke that we live like a married couple, with none of the "benifits", since we care about each other and take care of each other, but there is absolutely no romantic interest in each other, whatsoever. Monster has topped the 80 pound estimate on his weight and is still all muscle. No asks me if he is anything other than a pitbull, but now they comment that "he's so tall for a pit."

The divorce is over and done with, though the x still calls and texts me, thinking that, after all he has done and said we are "still friends." Aparently, if I'm not spitting venom at him every time I encounter him, we must be friends. He doesn't get the fact that I "just don't give a damn" about him or his shenannigans. that is the magic of divorce!

And then, out of the blus, Logan says to me, "Mom, can you drive me over to the DMV on Monday so I can take all of my tests and get mi lisence?" Um..........what? Driving has not been something he has had an interest in doing, even at 19 years old. But, sure. I told him I'd take him, and even took him over to a vacant lot next to Paul's (the room mate) office and let him practice in my Ford Explorer, prior to taking his driving test, so he would be familiar with how it runs, turns, etc. Logan, like Garion and Jalane, his older siblings, suffers from test anxiety, so he was nervous. I told him take a deep breath and relax. At the very least, he would leave the DMV with a learner's permit and could take the driving part of teh test in another week when he had some more practice. Either way, he would leave with some sort of lisence. He took the written tests, road signs and rules, then we waited for what must have been a fraction of a second until they called him to take his driving test. And even that was fast. He was back in the building and waiting in line to pay and her his lisence in less than 10 minutes. When I realized he was back, I walked over to him and asked him if he was ok. In typical Logan fashion, he looked at me and said "oh yeah, I'm fine. I just need to turn in my paperwork that says I passed and pay for my lisence." He passed. I had to actually read the paper a couple times before that actually sank in. He passed. He was now a fully lisenced driver in the state of Florida. The last of my kids to do it.

When Garion and Jalane took their tests, I wasn't a part of the milestone. They went with their significant others. None of the kids got lisences until they were over 18. But Logan, though he could have gone with his girlfriend, came home and asked Mom to be the one to help him out. Garion was living with his father when he got his lisence. Jalane didn't ask me because I was still recovering from stroke number 1. But Logan wanted Mom to be the one with him. I got to be a part of this milestone in his life. That was sometihng special to me. So was the celebratory lunch we had together after he got the lisence, and him driving back to my home afterwards. It felt great to be a part of that in Logan's life, especially after not being able to be for Garion, but especially for Jalane, because of the stroke. I can't really put into words how much it means to me, but being that everyone reading this has been personally touched by stroke, I know everyone understands.

So, by the standards of "social norms," my kids are "all grown up," graduated high school and on to college, living on their own, and lisenced drivers. They aren't "kids" any more, they are "young adults." But they are still my "babies" and always will be.

I'm proud of the adults they are turning into, for so many more reasons than I can express. They are the "3 biggest accomplishments I will ever have in my life," my words and I mean htem. Nothing I have ever done or will ever do will shine brighter than giving teh rest of teh world 3 intellegent, compassionate, hard-working, caring people who are not afraid of going for their dreams with a hunger. I miss the day-to-day part of being a mom, some times, and I would do it all over again with very few changes, but absolutely no regrets.

There you are world, you have 3 amazing people taking you on now. I hope you understand just how special they are.