Letting Go

​You know when you hold your new baby close in your arms and ask yourself all those questions moms ask? What’s she going to be like when she grows up? Who will she marry? What will she want to do with her life? 

​About two weeks ago and twenty years later, I found myself facing the answer to one of those questions. My daughter was setting out on an adventure hundreds of miles away from home, away from me. We found ourselves taking her hundreds of miles across country to live in a new city, with new people for a fantastic opportunity. Of course I always knew she would leave home. And it’s not that I didn’t want her to have this amazing opportunity. It’s just that my heart was breaking into a million pieces.

It took us 3 days to drive her to her destination, and at times I would find myself just looking at her through the rearview mirror, thanking God for her, and simultaneously asking God for strength to let her go. Letting go of her, of each of my children, has been some of the hardest chapters of my life.

Just this weekend while I was doing my grocery shopping, a mom of two rambunctious boys was in the cereal aisle at Target. If you’ve had two boys as I have, you know the excitement and chaos that can occur when boys are making their cereal choices. Her two boys got loud and hyped about their Cheerios. This mom looked at me with “that look” and said, “Tell me it gets better.” I told her it does but then I added, “Treasure these moments because they pass so quickly.” Then I walked away with puddles in my eyes. I miss those days.