Change has come, though not exactly the way I expected. Rather than change this blog, I decided to set up a different website to promote my middle grade novel, Sticks & Stones. The book doesn’t have a publisher yet, but if you’re curious, hop on over to http://www.maryhamiltonbooks.com/ Be sure to leave a comment and tell me what you think!
I’ll post news both here and on the website about my progress finding a publisher, but most of the time, this blog will continue to carry my own personal thoughts and musings.
Lately my mind has been filled with thoughts about sending my youngest off to college. My youngest and several other young men that he grew up with. Two boys lived on one side of our house and two others lived down the block on the other side. That’s not counting the four or five others who lived on 
surrounding streets. The Flagmore Boys, as we called them, played neighborhood league soccer together, then Little League, basketball, and even a little football. They celebrated birthdays with sports-themed parties and wore out the neighbor’s grass with their front yard football games. One summer, after a crowd of sweaty, thirsty boys repeatedly trooped in and out of my kitchen for water, I wrote each name on a large plastic cup and lined them up my counter.
Only a couple years ago, they all started driving, and we joked about asking the street dept. to install a couple speed bumps on Flagmore Drive. After that came girlfriends, and homecomings and prom. And now they’re all off to college.
One morning recently, while sitting on the patio, I heard an odd sound, something between an egg cracking and tissue paper ripping. Several minutes later, I noticed a butterfly had 
“hatched” from its cocoon on my passion flower vine. What a fitting metaphor, I thought. The cracking and ripping that takes place as our kids break the bonds and leave the cocoon. Little by little, they stretch their wings, gathering strength until the moment they let go and fly. And off they go.
The house, like the cocoon, is quiet, lonely. It may even seem empty. But that’s okay. It simply means a life has grown beautiful wings and taken flight.
Well done, guys! Spread those wings and fly!
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