Empty Nest

As I write, I am flying home to BC from having just left my eldest daughter to start her residency in Ontario where she will officially start her life. She keeps telling her Dad and I that she has been on her own for years already. She has while she was at school abroad, but this is different and one day she will understand what we mean….Home will always be where we are, but she will always go back to her home now, the home she is building on her own. 

It is a right of passage, we all go thru it I know….but it doesn’t make this day any easier for us. She would laugh and say why are you writing this Mom, it is just making you cry and I will see you again in less than 3 months when we are back in Ontario again…but it isn’t just that we won’t see her smiling face every day…it isn’t that we won’t hear her non stop chatter…its that she has officially flown the coop to make her way on her own…without us. We are now just spectators in her story now. 

My tears are bittersweet, as we are so proud of her…but knowing she is on her own now….its official she no longer needs us the way she always has. I get it she will always need us. They always do in some way or another and we will always be there for both of our girls. But we can no longer shelter her from harm, she will have to figure out the many challenges life brings her way on her own.

When you are young and starting a family, everyone always tells us to cherish every moment because before you know they will be all grown up. When we were young, I don’t know how much we truly understood the truth to those words. Somehow time goes by faster and faster the older we get and now we are telling the people we know those same words. 

Somewhere along the way, life gets in the way and you find the years have gone by…where did they go? It seems like only yesterday we were her whole world. There was nobody more important than her Mommy and Daddy. Then slowly as she ventured out into the world, her world started to grow and she gathered friends and experiences along the way. In the beginning they are so dependant on us, that just being held in our arms soothes them. They are small enough we can kiss all their fears away and rock them to sleep. Now she must find her own way, it is no longer our job to protect her….It is her job to find out what the world has in store for her. 

We are so proud of you Shantelle for reaching for the stars and never giving up even when things seemed so impossible. You made it and your journey is only just beginning. 

We taught our children, how to become strong, independent women as my husband always says. We can be proud that is exactly what we did! 

I leave you with these words, like so many before me and so many will say one day when their children have grown….”Cherish EVERY moment, put away your phone and work, turn off the TV and just be with them…listen to what they have to say. No matter how unimportant you may think it is or how busy you are. Little ones can talk about the silliest of things, make them feel important. Wrap your arms around them and hold them tight because one day they will grow up and you will never get those days back again!” Hug your little and not so little ones…every day! Don’t forget to not only tell them you love them, but show them you do.