FlorIDA Hansons

Last weekend Maxwell earned his Bachelor of Arts, Summa Cum Laude with Highest Honors. The culmination of 4 years of his hard, hard work. The winding roads, sometimes broken, that got him to the Fultz Quad on Lycoming College at 1 College Place, merged into one clear path for him.  When Maxwell graduated from high school, I was a different person. The thought of him leaving home, to a new and unknown place, made me feel frantic. Just the thought of it. I didn't know what we would look like as a family. I didn't know how I was supposed to just let him go. How could you love someone so much and just let them go? I knew it was what he was supposed to do, but selfishly, it wasn't what was supposed to happen to me.  But this time, this graduation, was different. I was different. I knew that Maxwell's college graduation wasn't about me or how I felt or what my future would look like. It was all about him and all about the people that he choose for friendship and guidance

For  decades  now the families that lived at Camp Pinchot were told that they'd be the last families to occupy those houses. Here we are in 2022 and it's really happening. We really are two of the very last families to live at Camp Pinchot.  Last week the community said it's farewell, and the new plans for Pinchot were unveiled. The Jackson Guard which manages all of the natural resources on Eglin is going to be moved out there. All of the biologists and their laboratories, fish and wildlife and conservation staff will have our old bayou views. The main house (1556 on the map) and the Hen House (1555)  will be home to the Gopher Tortoise Labs and the tennis courts (1550) will house the Reticulated Flatwoods Salamander Program. How amazing is that?!  It was a little strange to be back, touring our old home with strangers from the military and local communities. Revisiting the 110 year old history of that little piece of paradise was sweet, but to be honored as one of the fam