After three and half months of having our daughter back in the nest, she has flown from it, once again, to return to college for the new school year. We (smugly) thought that we would be better prepared this time and, organizationally, I suppose that we were in comparison to last year. But emotional readiness tends to blow out the open window on the long drive back to campus or gets lost at the bottom of a random box like the extension cord that we desperately need to find. Post goodbyes, we are fragile but fine, the three of us. We know that being apart gets easier over time and our appreciation of each other increases exponentially along with it.
Where there is always love, laughter, sanctuary and succor, there is no such thing as emptiness. Our nest is ever-evolving, like the lives of those who rest within it. The changes only make it (and each of us) stronger. And for that I am so grateful.
