It's always hard to let go.
We have three granddaughters, each terrific, smart and interesting in their own way. Halle is 26 and has a degree in musical theater performance. She teaches small children about music using Broadway Show tunes to reach them and recently booked her first post-COVID theatre role in Chicago. Izzy is 15, a high school sophomore at Hawken School, and a terrific French student. She’ll be going to France later this fall to experience living with a French family. And, before we get to the third granddaughter, a big shout-out to our grandson, Jake, who has a strong artistic bent. Jake is Izzy’s twin.
Our middle granddaughter, Carly, will be 23 at the end of this month. Later this week, Carly officially leaves the family nest in Michigan and is on her way to a new life in Richmond, Virginia. Yes, she does have a boyfriend in Richmond, but she is striking out on her own in a new job with new colleagues in a new city. Very smartly, she has already joined several groups that mix new, young people with each other and to all that Richmond has to offer. That, plus her job, plus selecting new items for her apartment means a busy Fall.
Carly is an alumna of Belmont University in Nashville, where she majored in music business. Thanks to COVID, she graduated in her parent’s living room. She then surveyed the job market and decided to stay at home until conditions improved for meaningful employment. In the meantime, she completed an MBA program at Wayne State University and held several part-time jobs, including working at two Detroit-area entertainment venues.
Lots of terrific memories as she sets out on a new journey. When Carly was about three, I had a bit of a coughing jag one day. With a very concerned look on her face, she came running up and asked, You O.K., Grandy? A couple more good coughs and I responded, I’m O.K., Carly. To this very day, if I cough or something goes down the wrong way, Karen will ask, You O.K., Grandy? And I will reply, I’m O.K., Carly.
In her early teens, Carly was the lead singer for an all-girl band called Unusual Symphony. They won their local Talent for the Title. Carly then won it as an individual performer a couple of years after that.
When she was just 16, Carly entered a competition at the annual Michigan State Fair. Lo and behold, she won the title of 2015 Michigan State Fair Superstar. Which led to our starring roles as youngest performer and oldest attendee at western Michigan’s Electric Forest music festival the summer before her 17th birthday.
We also can’t forget the summer Carly interned with her Uncle Denny, who was in the early stages of building a music festival business. She performed there, too - both as an individual performer and with her all-time favorite group at the time, Time Flies.
All this music stuff has upsides and downsides. The upside is that performing in public builds confidence that carries over into all aspects of life. The downside of performing is that for all but a tiny fraction of the thousands of talented people who want to become the next big thing, it’s an unrealistic dream. It’s o.k. to pursue it, but it’s probably best to know when to drop it so you don’t find yourself singing in some bar till midnight, then piling into a crummy van and traveling 300 miles to the next town to do the same thing the following day.
Fortunately, Carly was mature enough and smart enough to pull the plug on the performing thing. And, beyond that, she ultimately pulled the plug on the business side of music and entertainment as well. An 18-month forced break from working at music venues - thanks to COVID shutdowns - showed her that cleaning a venue until 2 a.m. was not for her.
So, you never know where your journey will take you. In Carly’s case, it’s Richmond, Virginia, where she will put her MBA to good use as a team member in a financial services firm. Kids grow up and move on. They spread their wings just like we did.
Please join me in wishing Carly great happiness going forward. And, let’s all take a moment to be thankful for our children and grandchildren wherever they are and whatever they’re doing to make their own mark in the world we all share.
I’m O.K, Carly and you’re going to be O.K., too.
DY: In Just a Few Words is a blog that comes out when something needs to be said or every Tuesday - whichever comes first. Davis Young is a communications professional who adds 50+ years of experience and perspective to issues of the day. His emphasis in DY: In Just a Few Words will be humor (a touch of sarcasm here, a pinch of facetiousness there...). Once in a while, he will touch on something a bit more serious - but hopefully not too deep or depressing.
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