>Mike, your shining dad qualities are evident here. I get it: you blink your eyes and the little girl in the stroller suddenly is traveling abroad without Dad's protection. The big downside of this life I chose is that Your goal as a parent is to get them to the point that they don't need you any more, and then it hurts like hell.

It does fly by. I thought I had let go of the reins and now this trip brings it all back again. It's easy being the kid leaving the nest. I were one. Much harder being the parent.

I promised her I would be cool about it. Much better for both of us that way.

She would laugh to see this conversation, which she won't. She would say it just proves how ANCIENT I am. One of our many running jokes is how old I am. To her it isn't entirely a joke. 57 is impossibly old in her mind.