There's something about those words today that ring so true. Children are going back to school. So many of us remember the feelings we had as kids going to the bus stop or walking to school, beginning a new year. As this happens today, I remember the importance of holding on loosely.
This morning while I packed lunches and prepared breakfast, I marveled about how my children have grown and changed in so many ways, like the shifting of the wind as the seasons change. It is such a gift that I can see how they are learning and being shaped each day. There is nothing in the world like being attuned to them in this way.
But I can remember a time when separation from my children was something I had to endure. Some of us encounter missing daily lives with those we love due to business trips that may last a few days or something more permanent like a divorce, an illness or death that separates family members from its original form and daily interaction. Others have cultural living or work arrangements that require parents to be separated from their kids or loved ones for long periods of time.
Most of us remember or experience separation anxiety when our kids walk into their classrooms for the first time. The kids feel this separation too, some more so than others.
As we turn away with a wave and a hug or a kiss, whether it is today as the kids go back to school, visit on a weekend, or see each other after months or even years, we remember that they have a piece of us in themselves. No separation in time can remove the genetic make-up that you share with them, along with the core values, beliefs, care and support you have shown them along life's winding road.
Despite distance and interference, holding on loosely reminds us that love and the kindness that surrounds it will withstand moments or periods of separation. Love reminds us that there are bonds fundamentally unbreakable because of their core.
And of course, don't let go.
2 comments:
These days, one can write on a Blog. We had diaries back in the "old" days...
I remember your first day of school and I was like a mother hen who wanted to gather her chick back under her wing for fear of all the dangers in the world...but I learned to let go...I remember I wrote a poem that morning about your first day of school...now if I could just find it and share it with you..
Enjoyed your thoughts...
love,
mom
You'll have to find that poem! It would be fun to hear. Love Susan
Post a Comment