30 Aug It is this day…the moment the nest is emptied
By Lauren Chesley
Sunday, August 30, 2015
It is this day. The one I have thought about…dreaded…counted…contemplated. I just went to wake my 18 year old son. He is sleeping diagonally because his beautiful six foot self has outgrown his bed. He is sprawled out corner to corner with his feet dangling off the side. The Kleenex box next to him is still painted with baby blue bunnies from his nursery.
It is this day…what feels comfortable and safe will soon feel awkward and unsteady. How will he possibility fit in a twin extra-long? A stranger will soon be sharing his “space.”
It is this day…that every mom anticipates. What will silence sound like? It is pleasing and terrifying.
But I realized sitting at the pancake house this morning (hearty farewell breakfast) that the journey onward is every day. Our incredibly cheerful waitress just explained how she can no longer eat pancakes and bacon because she has spent the past year losing 170 lbs. Yes…losing 170 pounds. She showed us a picture of herself weighing 377 pounds. What made her do it? What was her moment?
The fact is I think it is “this day” for all of us in any given moment. It doesn’t matter whether it’s big or small…life changing…or just a pause. As long as we put one foot in front of the other and balance.
It is this day…I really (I swear!) leave Cincinnati. I go straight from the very very very long day of college move-in (full of overly polite parents with 18 year old’s who suddenly forgot how to speak) to my new home in Chicago.
It is this day…I went to the cemetery to visit my mom. My friend, Ellen, says my mom is going to like Chicago.
It is this day…the trunk is packed and the last duffel is waiting to be squeezed together to zip. This one is going to take two people!*
It is this day…we will zip the duffel and try not to look at each other because the tears are a blink away.
Happiness…sadness…loneliness…fear…it’s all a blink away.
Wings are really the hardest things to give…but the greatest gift.
Journey on…wherever, whatever it is on “this day” for you.
*Note to self: boys have as many clothes as girls. And if you’re the only boy with three older sisters…you have stuff! How many high school spirit-wear t-shirts does one need?
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