Emile Shreve, Somerset West
Thank you Anita Bunn for sharing your thoughts about your son heading abroad, ( “Seasons, cycles and sons”, Bolander, March 29).
I was labeled as unnatural when, in 1994, my 23-year-old son decided he wanted to be a New Yorker, and I rejoiced at his courageous decision to cut the safety net of the known to take his chance in the land of his dreams.
My friends said I was heartless urging him to go, I was psychoanalysed by all and sundry, some thought I “put up a good front” to cover my heartbreak.
There was no heartbreak, and despite the long struggle for a green card he has shown no regrets (unless the blow of Trump for president counts).
He visited South Africa after nearly two decades and thought it was beautiful, different.
He returned to his nest in Manhattan with a new perspective.
Last Christmas, a second visit, and he brought his girlfriend along.
He has since moved to an airy and light-filled apartment with a roomy kitchen in Astoria, and begun asking for Mom’s recipes.
Like a garden, this child-rearing thing takes patience.
Thanks Anita, you sound like a brilliant mother, your son is lucky.
