The final bag has been packed.

He looked around his old room solemnly. 18 years of his life had been spent here. 18 stages of triumphs and tragedies. Laughter and tears. Pleasant conversations and stern lectures. Of all the good times and bad times, this room has been his safe fortress from the world around him. Around him were the remnants of scattered memories. On the wall was an empty corkboard. On this board, the boy used to display his accomplishments and special memories. Sports awards, school certificates, pictures of friends, and keepsakes from events. While the board was empty, the memories lingered in the air.

Time, as it always does, caused the boy to outgrow this room of safety. As the years went on. The outside world was able to slowly find cracks within his safety and infiltrate his area. Now the time had come for the boy to fully leave the safe asylum of his childhood room and go out into the big, scary world. He began to walk out of the room. With each step, he found his steps became more and more labored. Finally, he reached the door to his room. He placed his hand on the light switch. after a moment, the boy turned off the light and put an end to this point of his life. He took one last look around the familiar place, and with a sorrowful yet hopeful sigh, departed.

The boy made his way outside to the car ready to take him into the next stage of his life. His mother stood next to the door of the car. It was obvious that she had spent the morning dreading this goodbye. Her eyes will still damp, and her smile twitched with the straining of every muscle it took to keep her smiley facade. Memories of the boys childhood were in her eyes. Memories of his first steps, his first words. She remembered his first day at school, the times he came home from school and just needed a hug. All of those memories were dancing around in her mind as she watched her son, her baby, approach her.

They boy wrapped his mother in the biggest hug he could give her. This hug was both and thank you and apology. In the hug, he thanked his mother for the year she spent taking care of her. The years of feeding him, keeping him protected at night, teaching him right from wrong, and being there when new experiences were too overwhelming for logic to answer questions. In this hug was also an apology: sorry that this will be the last hug for a while.

Next to his mother, his father stood. While there was no sign of tears from him, there was a sense of pride in his face. His dad spent the years teaching his son everything he could for this specific moment. All of the years of teaching his son right from wrong. Praying that his son wouldn’t fall into the same traps that life had put in his own path. There was also a sense of doubt. His father recalled the difficult times with his son. The arguments they had over decisions made, the tough conversations about girls, friends, and responsibilities. His father wondered if he had truly done enough for his son.

The boy had a simple response to this. A strong handshake followed by a hug to say thank you for the years of wisdom that would help him begin this next chapter. Right or wrong, his father had prepared him for this moment. And the boy was ready to take the world head on. All of those lessons reamined with him, and he knew they would be helpful as he headed off into this new part of his life.

With one final wave, the boy bid his parents farewell. There was no shame in the tears they all shared for this moment. No matter how prepared they thought they were for this moment. None of them could fight back all of the emotions that overwhelmed them. The boy opened the car door and sat in the car. As he turned the key and started the car, The boy changed, and became a man who was ready to take this new adventure in his life.

As the man began driving away from the house. He had one final reflection about this portion of his life. Through good and bad, his parents had been there for him for everything. While he knew that they would always support him, he knew that they would not be able to protect him anymore. At this point forward, he needed to take the love from his mother and the wisdom from his father, and use these memories to forge his own path through life. He knew he could do it. He was ready for the world. However, he couldn’t help but look in the mirror as he watched his childhood slowly shrink and disappear behind him. He knew that this point in his life was over. While he could reminisce on these memories, he knew they wouldn’t help him in this chapter of his life. He was now a man, and he needed to forge this new path.