Seasons Change

As noted in the previous post, going to the orientation for Emily’s school got me thinking about how I am feeling about my little girl heading out “on her own”. Most of the day focused on re-assuring the parents and how to deal with the changes in the parent/child relationship. On the way home Emily asked me how I was feeling about her heading out. So I told her that if I had wanted a child who was going to remain completely dependent on her parents we really shouldn’t have ever taught her how to walk, or talk, sent her to school…


The truth is I do have a lot of emotions about her going off to school. I am nervous for her, worried for her (and her Dad), and I’m melancholy about her leaving us and the matrix of our family possibly changing forever. But I’m not sending her to the moon (although Mines did feel like another planet). I always knew this time would come, and while I will miss the life we had, I’m excited about the life to come. Emily’s future is out there and she is going to go look for it. If it ends up being 4 years at Mines, awesome! If it ends up moving around…OK! Wasn’t the goal of teaching her, giving her responsibility, letting her make the little choices all part of the master plan that she would eventually be an adult? I’m not saying she is there tomorrow, or that I’m not anticipating frantic phone calls, tears, homesickness, or major mistakes.

This is now; this is where we have progressed to. Will I miss the past? Of course. Do I have regrets? ABSOLUTELY!!! There are so many things I wanted to accomplish with my kids before they started leaving home, so many experiences…but…forward, always forward. That season is fading, it’s not over yet, but change is in the air. So I am grateful for this season and hope I can enjoy the changing world.