The anxieties run through you, fears of the unknown claw at your heart but the face you put forward is calm, a smile plays about your lips as you wish your child, (even if he/she is an adult) bon voyage and journey mercy.
A parting kiss, a wave of the hand and your child is off. A sense of hollowness sets in. You are already missing him/her. You return home, on tenterhooks until a message is received that he/she has arrived sfely at his/her destination.
Mind you, these feelings have not changed, not since he/she first left your side to begin school. Do you remember hovering anxiously outside the classroom?
How your pressure went up a notch when children began crying for their parents?
Some things don't change and even when your child is now an adult, anxieties and fears still have you in their clutches when he/she leaves your side, whether it's off for further studies in another location or a holiday abroad.
You pray daily for his/her safety and well-being, for good health and to do well in his/her studies/career.
The family bonds hold strong and when he/she goes on to start his/her own family, you begin to relax, happy that there is a significant other who will love and care for him/her. Instead of anxiety and fear, there is now hope.
This time, if there are tears, these will be of joy. You have become a mother-in-law and a grandma-in-waiting.
I salute all mothers and grandmas out there.
What about fathers? Do they feel what mothers feel???
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