Tuesday, August 14, 2012

My fledgling

Six years ago, I did not have a good birthday. Tom was out of town, Kenneth was gone somewhere and the girls were at gymnastics camp in Iowa. A friend called and I cried about how I was just going to be an old and lonely woman. I remember I said that Kenneth would be going to college and before you know it, Emily will leave and then poof! Anna will be in college, too. My friend paused a beat and then said "Paula, Anna's twelve." Not fazed by this response, from a mom whose oldest child was three at the time, I wailed "You just wait and see how fast it goes!"

How fast it goes, indeed.

The dreaded day arrived on Saturday, and while it turns out that I'm not going to be alone and lonely after all, I still feel incredibly sad about my little Anna flying the nest. We're much more efficient about moving a kid to college now that we've done it multiple times, but it doesn't get any easier. My heart feels squeezed just as much as it did when we drove away from UNO when our Kenneth was a freshman.


 Anna with bestie/roomie Kenzie

 Our little Huskers will miss big sister Anna.

 A good-bye hug, with a pitiful attempt by me to fake a smile.

Just have to keep reminding myself that being a good mom means that eventually, they have to spread their wings and fly away.