BOY TRAVELLER

Early Christmas present to Ev, published 1881

My son left for Vietnam last Friday after an extended stay in the States. Ev arrived home in June, then spent some glory days exploring Iceland with the family, catching up with old friends in Minneapolis, Iowa City, and Denver and reconnecting with family members in north central Iowa and Kansas City. He ventured out to the Nevada desert to partake in Burning Man in late August and explored Seattle with his father. His time here was well spent.

Ev is now at the Taiwan airport on a 10-hour layover, awaiting the flight on his final leg back to Hanoi. Once there, he will look for a teaching gig and settle in, but also hopes to do a little traveling around the north of Vietnam before heading back to Saigon.

This is the time when I am the most anxious; Ev is traveling without a phone, so he cannot keep us updated as to where, when, how he is doing.  I long just to hear his voice so that I know he is OK. I wish him well on his journey,  but this mother-worry never seems to go away.

Setting aside my worry and sadness, I relish the time that we did spend together over these last few months.  During the warm afternoons of September and October, we would head out in the old pickup driving the back roads looking for woods to tromp or an old cemetery to explore. We were never disappointed in our many adventures.

As my firstborn, Ev spent many hours exploring the outdoors with me--as an infant and toddler in the backpack and as a little hiker under his own power.  Over these past few months, we have re-kindled those precious times, making new memories. And these memories are what now sustain me...until this boy traveller returns home from his own adventures.