This past Saturday, we celebrated our daughter with her
graduation party. We were blessed with
the MOST gorgeous day in a week and were surrounded by loving family and
friends, faithful and supportive members of our church and neighbors new and
familiar. We saw family members we
haven’t seen in years. We laughed,
caught up and ate. And though the people
I know best were the ones I spent the least amount of time with, I know that
the day was spent well, the preparation was worth every hour and Erin was
surrounded with people who love her and are cheering her on as she ventures
forth into the world into a new life and with opportunities to experience!
She’s our youngest child.
It’s been an interesting year, getting to this moment. I've talked about not the empty nest but the
revolving door I fully expect will be our lives for the next few years. Our son moved out in April after getting
through nearly two years at a community college and working full time. It has been an adjustment, but it hasn't been
as hard as I expected. It was time. With our daughter I think it will be
different, but still not as hard as it could be, for she is also ready.
I see the potential our kids have in the choices made
throughout their lives. We have opened
doors to them—the travel bug, music appreciation and participation, love of
books and movies, good educational opportunities that met their
personalities—and they will thrive in these things and will continue to learn
about themselves and their dreams and their potential. They have God with them, whether or not they
want to admit that fact. We've raised
really good, smart, capable kids to this point.
What we have to do now is trust that they can and will be really good,
smart and capable adults.
There was an article about empty nests posted today: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/grown-and-flown/knowing-my-sons-a-little-_b_5498622.html. There was an interesting insight in this
article by a mom whose youngest just graduated.
She says that what she is sad about is that she will know a little less
about her sons as they move forward in their lives. I get that.
When you have been immersed in loving and living and giving and
receiving for so many years and it all seems to abruptly change with the
emptying of their room and the drive to their new nest (however permanent), you
begin to understand that you won’t see the daily changes of your child. You are going to miss milestones and memories
and you will have to trust in social media or texts or phone calls to know
about your child’s life. And, it’s
okay. It’s simply different. The reality will remain: “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for
always, as long as I’m living my baby you’ll be.”
We will all change with this freedom, our relationships will
become something more adult, and yet, as a parent, I hope that I can be the
port of refuge when the storm rages as much as the first phone call with the “best
news ever!” at least for a little while longer.
Oh Heavenly Father, you blessed us with two humans to love,
to raise up, to send off and I am ever thankful. They are two of the most important loves in
my life. I will miss them when they are
gone from the daily of my life, but I know that you hold them in your hands and
that you will always love them even more than I. Thank you for these gifts. Amen.