I’ll Fly Away
I’ll Fly Away is a gospel song with a country flair. It was written by Albert Brumley in 1929 while he was picking cotton in rural Oklahoma. He was thinking about flying away from the hot, dusty cotton fields the day he wrote it.
Albert and his singer wife had six children. I can only imagine they would sing from sunrise to sunset as they raised those children. He wrote over 800 songs in his lifetime.
I’ve thought of, and hummed that song, so often I’ve lost count. Strangely enough, I hum it for different reasons at different times.
Sometimes I’ll be at a meeting that has not grabbed my interest and I’ll think of this song. Other times I’ll be doing yard work, sitting in a place I’d really not rather be, or just see a bird flying and think of it.
I thought of this song again recently. As I hummed it, I remembered the students who were leaving home to go off to college. I have several friends who had their only child – or last child – leave for college this year.
They were becoming empty nesters.
Looking back on becoming an empty nester, I was ready. So was my son. I taught him to be independent way too early but, since he had to complete high school, he really didn’t have much choice about where to be. I knew, though, that he was ready to “fly away” whenever he could manage it.
If you’ve done a good job as a parent, your college age child is likely ready to leave home. After all, it’s your job to make sure you prepare them for adulthood the best you can and send them on their way.
While that was easy for me, I still missed Pierce. I know he was concerned about me and often said “Mom, why don’t you get a gun and learn how to shoot so you can defend yourself if someone breaks into the house and I’m not here.”
Pierce was really telling me he was concerned about me being by myself. As time has gone on, he is aware that I can defend myself and is more comfortable now that he is out on his own.
The families that really seem to struggle with empty nest issues most often try to get their children to come back after college.
My father did that with me. He was bound and determined to put a small place for me on the side of our family property. I think he was really disappointed when I said I was staying three hours away.
I knew going home to live was the last thing I wanted to do.
I’ve seen friends who convinced their children to come back home after college. Most of the children are miserable once they settle in and often don’t have jobs to keep them occupied. It’s almost like they lose their spirit and passion for life when they return…or else they rebel and leave on bad terms. It’s very seldom a good thing for children to return home. It just delays their ability to “fly away” with confidence and spread their wings to begin their own life as young adults.
My wish for you today is – if you have college age children – that you encourage them in every way you can to “fly away” with confidence and courage. I applaud you if you’ve done that already, even though it’s hard not to have them around when you love them so much and want to protect them. I encourage you to think twice about having them come home after college…unless it is a brief and well planned out transition period.
If you are a college student, my wish for you today is that you say “I’ll Fly Away” and mean it…and that you begin your life as a young adult with the courage, fortitude and determination to make it on your own.
~Joellen