Thursday evening we took our middle son to the Tashkent Airport to see him off. He flew back to DePere, Wisconsin to start his second semester at St. Norbert College. It is always sad when our adult children leave us after a holiday break. This is the next stage of parenthood, supporting them from afar as they make their way through university.
It seems like every time we go to the airport, something has changed. The departures terminal was renovated, and it is so much more spacious and modern. Officials put in a reception area on the ground floor and check-in desks on the second floor. Passengers can take escalators, elevators, or stairs on both sides. There were only two flights departing and mid-January not being high travel season, it was very easy to get him to the immigration desk. People can also enter the terminal building without showing a passport and getting by a soldier. This is another example of the modernization of the country.
Oliver was quite melancholy about leaving the family nest. He had it nice here with his own bedroom, a full refrigerator, his mother cooking delicious meals and fawning over him, and no responsibilities. Ollie is not looking forward to ROTC morning training three times a week in the bitter Wisconsin winter! I make it a point to treat the kids well when they visit, so they are more inclined to visit us in the future. We won’t see him in person until Owen’s graduation in May.
We also had a very light snowfall this week. Temperatures have routinely been below zero Celcius in the mornings but it warms up slightly during the sunny afternoons. I took our dog Obi for a late evening walk as I was getting over jet lag from my recruiting trip to London (five hours’ time difference).
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