Love Hurts

Tears are running down my face as I stand by the sink, preparing the last meal before heading to the airport. Once again, I'm struck by the fact that one could never be prepared for this part of life. Would I have signed up for this mothering thing, had I read the fine print?
On this day I feel with the momma who is leaving her child at the kindergarten door, trying hard to smile, but feeling all of her five-year-old’s apprehensions and wondering how she, herself, will make it through the next three hours. The years, they fly, and the boundaries grow. First overnights, summer camps, parties and the car keys. Little by little we give, hoping we’ve taught them right.
I also feel with the Mom who has run around for the last few weeks, making sure her barely eighteen-year-old has everything she needs to live in dorm at a college, four hours away. She wonders why she is buying to have her move. Where have the years gone? Will she remember to separate darks and lights? Will she eat right? Who will tell her to be careful? The questions keep coming and emotions are barely held in check.
I thought this would be the last of its kind. After all, she’s grown up. But, as students are heading back to school, my daughter and family are heading back to a country far away. Twenty hours of flying. Yes, there’s the Internet . . . but no cuddles with the little ones, no pancakes with sugar, no stories with chatter, no watching movies and eating popcorn. No mother-daughter shopping days or lunches. No Christmas around the tree. No, many things.

Goodbyes hurt. I became a Mom and felt like the babe in my arms was mine. I loved like never before. In fact, maybe I didn’t even know what love was before I had a child. It surely wasn’t like playing with dolls. This child had feelings and those feelings became mine. Love gives all and then lets go even though the feelings stay. And this too, because we love. Yes, love hurts.
But if I’d have to do it all again, I would.


Just one of the reasons I would .