I am adrift.

Unmoored from a routine that defined my very skin and bones lo these past 13 years, I am suddenly unsure how to venture from one day to the next.

Yes, there is work to be done, responsibilities hewn to, the quotidian necessities to give attention and time. But all that is merely a patina on the surface of consciousness—I can do those things in my sleep, with efficiency, quality.

The real question is who I am to be from now on…

…yes, I am still here for him, the child the universe saw fit to put on my path all that time ago; but he is now largely off on his own, on that new adventure all youths cleave to once they sense their wings are strong enough to give them lift.

I know the answer is staring me in the eye; I just need to look right back, reflect, and say the word.