It’s foggy this morning, but the light coming from my daughter’s bedroom is bright because she’s away on a trip, and her door is wide open.
It’s heartbreaking walking down the stairs knowing this is what it will feel like when she leaves for college.
Every step I feel the weight of: did I spend enough time with her, will she be ok on her own, is she happy, what will her life be like now? It’s heavy.
That’s being a parent. Your kids grow up and leave you, then you have grandchildren, they visit, they leave, and it’s the same feeling all over again.
And you say to yourself: Next time I need to do this with them.
Being left behind is not a good feeling. When I went to college, my younger sister said, “thanks for leaving me with Mom and Dad.”
Life moves on. The days fly by, or not at all. One morning we wake up feeling pretty good, the next we wonder: what planet are these people from?
The fog’s starting to lift, it’s brighter outside. Time to continue the fight. The fight for what you and I deserve—what our families deserve. We’ve worked too hard to let it be taken from us.
Oceans of time will wash on by
Ebb and flowing through our lives
Why should we hurry the tide
You and I, only have oceans of time
-Jimmy Buffett
