Out of the nest →[More:] I have wonderful, dreadful mixed feelings.

My son, the one I've written about previously who dropped out of college and hasn't been able to successfully go back to school or hold a job since, is leaving home.

My wife's sister has lined up a job for him where she works. It's basically entry-level healthcare. This is a kind of work he has never thought of before, although he found out about the possibility of this job before Christmas. Her company deals with senior citizens, traumatic brain injury victims, etc., and she says they have trouble getting enough workers.

She called this week and said there is training he will need that starts on Monday. This kind of came up suddenly. So this weekend he and I are driving from Fort Worth to Albany, NY, and he will move in his aunt until he can get on his feet.

I will get home from a current business trip to Washington, DC, to Fort Worth tomorrow in the evening, and the following morning we will set out for points north.

He will have very little: Some modest savings, a job, a place to stay for a while, a 1995 Escort, and supportive members of his extended family (aunt, uncles, grandparents, cousins).

I'm afraid to get my hopes up too much. He just seems so unmotivated. But... he is a guy that doesn't like little kids too much, with the exceptions being his cousins that he will be living with, at least temporarily. Around them he lights up and becomes like an indulgent "big brother."

So we're hoping this will be the positive change he needs to set a new direction for his life.

It's time for him to leave the nest, and time for us to cut the cord. It's gonna be tough.