What Would I Need THIS for, Anyway?

Thanks for all your kind comments yesterday. Didn't mean to alarm. I hope you remember one of my personality traits is that I rarely dwell on anything for long. I'm good--imbalanced but good. Thanks for caring.

This is what occupied my free time this weekend:

What is it? you ask.  A ginormous bulletin board.  I've been wanting to hang a map of the world in my upstairs hallway, so I found a world map online, and then I wondered what would be the best permanent way to hang said map.  Cork board, methought.  I checked online prices for 48x72" boards, and they cost anywhere from $200-250.  So much for that idea.
Until I remembered my dear friend Craig and his ever-dependable list.  Voila!  Someone was selling TWO boards, each 48x73", and they were $100 apiece.  SCORE!  I ordered the map, and I made an appointment to pick up the board.
Not only that, they were located pretty close, so it was a no-brainer when I found out he still had both.  When I saw the board, it looked like it had never had been used.  I talked him down to $83 and it was mine!

It barely fit in my Suburban.  This should have been my first warning signal.  I got it home, propped it against the wall I had predetermined would be "map wall" (by measuring it), and mysteriously, the wall had shrunk.  Impulsive me got my tape measure out, and I discovered the board is indeed 48" high, but it is 96" long.  EI-YIE-YIE!  Luckily, I had another stretch of wall.  And it would find a home there instead.

I had to trim the map down, top to bottom, since it was slightly bigger than the board.  Brad, more of a perfectionist than I, discovered the foolproof way to do it.  See?

Then, with four hands available, we used a can of spray adhesive and permanently attached the paper to the board.  That was easy!

But what to do with all that extra space on each side--twelve inches on each side, to be exact?  I bought some trusty scrapbook paper (after two trips, since the first time I'd miscalculated, somehow thinking each side was 36") and stapled it to each side.  Ben thought it was cool, see?

Then, I made a sheet for each of the ten of us and placed them on the paper.  I bought ten shades of head pins, and each one of us can mark where we've traveled, then list them in our own column.  Even Evie has her own space.  She hasn't ventured much yet, but she can at least list Idaho and Utah, right?

The question is:  What would I need this for?

Part of the teachings of my Church are that young men, when they turn nineteen years old, serve a full-time mission. (You can read a little about missionary service here. You can also read an address by the President of my Church about missionaries here.)  Young men serve without pay, completely funded by themselves or their families, in a place chosen by the leaders of our Church.  For two years.  During those two years, families are not allowed to see or visit their sons.  They are allowed email contact once a week, and phone calls twice each year--once on Mother's Day, and once on Christmas.  That's it.

I am very careful to guard my religious beliefs here on my blog. It's not my purpose, and it's not why I blog.  I am not out to change anyone's mind or convert anyone.  The reason I share this today is because my Tucker turns 19 on May 17th.  The day I knew was coming from the day of his birth is looming close.  He has completed all the paperwork. The dental work.  The medical work.

His papers have been submitted to Salt Lake City.

Sometime in the next week to two weeks, Tucker will receive his mission call.

Somewhere on this beautiful map, my oldest son will spend the next two years of his life.  Away from family.  Away from friends.  Away from me.

As much as LDS mothers in my Church anticipate this day from the first time they hold that tiny son, when it's actually your turn to surrender your child to the world, it's bittersweet.  It fills all your thoughts.  All you worries.  All your prayers.

And yet, I couldn't be more excited for this son of mine to grow up and discover who he truly is and what he's made of.  What he believes and why.

Our family will be anxiously and lovingly tracking his progress on our trusty map.  With his special pins.  We will exchange emails, pictures, and those rare but treasured phone calls. We will miss him. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

When he returns, he'll still be my son, but he will no longer be a boy.  He will be a man.

Still mine.  But never again the same.

If you would like to participate, you can leave your guess of where in the world (anywhere, really) he will be called in a comment on this post.  Winner will receive bragging rights for eternity.  That's all I got.