THE BOOMERANG KID

At age 31... our youngest daughter, who is a microbiologist, officially became a BOOMERANG kid. She moved back home with us because she lost her job. Everything she owned went into storage. We paid for it, along with her cell-phone and car insurance. After living with us for about 6 months... she found another job. With our financial help she moved to St. Louis to begin life anew. Within the first week or two there, her employer flew her to Denver for training. They praised her skills. Everything was going great until a new boss came in to run things, a couple months later. Our daughter and that boss had a personality conflict that couldn’t be resolved, so she QUIT working there. With no job, she bummed around, trying to find another. Getting contract work, tided her over for a while. After a year... when her money ran out, she did what she always did,  she called us for help. My husband and I are not spring chickens. But rather than pay someone else to do it... we made the trek to St. Louis, to help her physically move out of her rented townhouse. Destination... our place... once again. Once here, she dug her heels in... refusing to look for local work or helping out around the house. She had a huge chip on her shoulder. We all had a tough time getting along. And no one was happy. She sat online... all day and night... playing World of Warcraft, while we prayed for a solution. About 5 months later she informed us she had found a new position in Tacoma, Washington. This was 2,500 miles away. There was no relocation package. She had no money... so my husband and I had to subsidize the journey there. Then... we also had to pay... for someplace for her to lay her head at night, until she got her first paycheck. Everything was fine until she had chest pains, four months into the new job. She suspected she had had a heart attack. A visit to the doctor confirmed she had an irregular EKG result. She told this to her employer. They suggested she take a medical leave of absence until this was resolved. She agreed. But then... they fired her for not coming to work. Yet... amazingly, they continued to pay her for the duration of her contract. All of this added more stress to our daughter’s situation. While she tried to recuperate her health, it became clear she couldn’t stay there. So she packed up her car... and drove the 2,500 miles back home to us... yet again. She was 33 going on 34. She was supposed to be out on her own, grown up, with a life. Things for all of us became complicated, once more. Old patterns die-hard. Back in her old room upstairs, she acted more like a willfull child instead of an adult. And unfortunately we treated her accordingly. Another year and a half passed. She is now going on 36 years of age. With renewed health... and after circulating thousands of resumes, she finally got a bite. This time it was in Arizona, at a hospital on an Indian Reservation. They were willing to pay for her relocation, and needed her to start at the end of October. She immediately took the job. The movers came in, packed up her stuff and off she went. With nary a look over her shoulder, she barely said goodbye. Before she left, we had a heart to heart talk with her. A little tough love from us, a little too late. We told our daughter... she was going to have to... somehow, someway make it work, this time... whatever happened in Arizona. Now that we were unemployed, and living on Social Security, we couldn’t afford to support her financially anymore. There was no coming home, except for a visit. She said she understood. I really hope she does.  Although we miss her... my husband and I have been readjusting... to the empty nest left here by her absence... quite well. To tell you the truth... it’s been nice, just the two of us. But... we can’t help wondering if the BOOMERANG kid will bounce back and make a go of her life, at long last. Or fail miserably.  Her TRACK RECORD speaks for itself. Our fingers are crossed.