An Ex-Pat’s Credo

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Click on any photo to enlarge all.  The Poem “An Ex-Pat’s Credo” follows the photos.

An Ex-Pat’s Credo

Some may think my generation’s recent mass migration 
to be a “giving up” on life—a certain violation.
That rubric that we stay engaged to ease our children’s lives—
to witness births of babies (then their twos, threes, fours and fives)
may not be the paradigm we choose when we are older.
Some of us want changes, and some of us are bolder.

We want to spend remaining years discovering and delving.
Do you think it’s selfish to continue with our “selving?”
Families are wonderful and we love them well,
but parents can’t be always living by the bell.
Once a child is  raised and off on their next adventure,
their parents have not signed any articles of indenture. 

They, too, can now be off to see what else their life may hold,
and though that path’s not right for all, before they’re very old
they might desire a warmer place or country that is new,
but  what they choose to leave behind is certainly not you.
They’ll carry you in hearts and minds, and they’ll still hold you dear.
They’ll Skype you and they’ll Facebook. They’ll visit every year.

They’ll be there for graduations, celebrations and each birth.
They’ll share your family’s traumas, their successes and their  mirth. 
But they won’t be waiting at home for you to call,
for the children to find time for them between school and football
and proms and camp and movies and parties with their friends,
for they well remember that the schedule never ends!

See this as rehearsal for the day your kids will go 
off to other places to learn and change and grow.
You’ll wish them well and though you’re sad, will send them to their fate.
and then perhaps decide there’s more than kids to educate.
You’ll then be free to concentrate on new states of existence—
free we hope as we’ve been from their loud insistence

that you spend the whole rest of your life putting them first
no matter what your own dreams are, no matter how you thirst
to see what there is left in life, perhaps, like us, to travel
not through a wish to leave behind, not seeking to unravel,
but rather like two busy bees intent upon their hive,
demonstrating by their acts that they are still alive!

The prompt words today are migration, violation, rubric (an established rule, tradition, or custom) and concentrate.  Here are the links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/09/25/rdp-tuesday-migration/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/09/25/fowc-with-fandango-violation/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/09/25/rubric/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/09/23/daily-addictions-2018-week-38/concentrate

9 thoughts on “An Ex-Pat’s Credo”

    1. lifelessons's avatarlifelessons Post author

      Thanks, Olga. I have so many friends whose children were irate when they moved to Mexico and yet when they go back to visit, everyone is so busy that it is hard to schedule time to see them. Not true of all, but many. Or, their children themselves moved away from the town they were determined their parents should stay in. My parents moved to AZ the minute I left for college and it made a great place to go visit!!

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  2. isaiah46ministries's avatarisaiah46ministries

    Thanks, Judy. I have struggled so much with feeling of guilt and wondering if my children think me selfish for wanting to live broad and travel and just enjoy life. I adopted my kids at 21 so I had a life different from the one planned. To see the world is a dream. While we don’t have money to do it in style, Douglas wants this more than I realized, as he continues looking for places I might like. I realized from your poem that we give our children our lives, and there is a time to say, It is my turn! Thanks a lot! We leave for Alicante in 11 days and I would leave today if we could. To not feel guilty is such a gift.

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    1. lifelessons's avatarlifelessons Post author

      So so glad you heard the message. Sometimes it feels like preaching (which is, I know, your vocation–ha) but not intended as such. Just something I feel strongly about. Either way is okay, as I know grandchildren are the greatest pleasure for some and they can’t bear to be away from them, especially when they are little–but we need not feel guilty about living for ourselves in retirement. That is what retirement is for, after all.

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    2. lifelessons's avatarlifelessons Post author

      And traveling in style is not half so much fun as being on a “real” level and seeing the life of the countries you visit. For years I traveled last class and loved it. Still do, actually, although sleeping on floors is no longer desired or even possible.

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