Years ago, when I first started blogging, I began with loss as we readied our oldest for college in a different city. That loss – of his physical presence, his huge personality and the way it shaped our daily lives, of the mountains of laundry associated with an athletic kid, of the track schedules and the one more in the bathroom rotation, the special grocery requests, the late night conversations and the simple daily joys of being a busy family of 5 – felt devastating each time he came home and then returned to college.
He has since found a good job, moved out on his own and is doing the adulting thing, growing up and staying close – or as close as he is willing and able – to us all at the same time. Our younger two are home with us, in various stages of school, work, and growth, and yet, I feel the loss of their younger selves as deeply as if they had moved across the country. I realized last night, as we were talking through financing an education and the long-term impact of decisions made today, that my days of sweet and simple daily parenting are quickly wrapping up.
My bad. Number three is sick and just asked me to make him tea. All is back in balance and right with the world.
Nancy Wiley writes. 