HOUR 9
MY DAUGHTER LEAVES FOR COLLEGE
Most parents send their children to college
And survive the parting.
Why was it so difficult for me?
So wrenching?
She had a protective life,
and I pushed her to leave,
to experience life on her own.
But I cried so hard,
even she asked bewildered,
college was only forty minutes away.
Was it because there were just the four of us here,
in the USA?
Just my husband and two girls?
We have a tight bond, it is true,
But other families do too.
Was it because my younger daughter
is a Downs syndrome,
and what normalcy we experienced
would disappear?
After much self-analyzing,
I think it is this:
We will never be a family of four
again.
I sensed when she left,
She would never come back
and live in our house again.
And I was right.
She went to grad school,
married, and moved to another state.
And I am so proud of her!
She has children, and we love them
dearly.
Yet I miss her.
When she comes home,
it’s precious – we are eight now.
And when she leaves,
I miss her all over again.
Oh wow. So true. We’ve only got the one daughter and we raised her to be an independent young woman. So much so that after college she too was gone for good, aside for a few months here and there between jobs in other states. I con’t know how old your daughter is, but ours is thirty nine and lives in North Carolina with her husband and two year old. But we talk every week and see each other two or three times a year. Still, the house is no longer empty when she comes home. Very nice job on the posting. Thanks.