The Luck of the Irish

Today my baby is on his way to Ireland.

Well, he's not exactly a baby.  But he's MY baby of 16 1/2 years old and he's flying with a group to Ireland to do some mission work.

When did he get old enough to walk through the TSA security area without me?  Wasn't it just yesterday that I had to hold his hand and prompt him to take off his shoes and jacket and walk through the screener/scanner.  It was surely not long ago.

I frankly don't know if my mother's heart wants to cheer that her little bird is almost ready to leave the nest (meaning my job is done) or if I want to cry big crocodile tears because my job is almost done!

26 years ago my mom watched me get on a plane bound for Frankfurt, Germany.  Sure, I was 23 years old and not 16, but I'm sure her mother's heart was in just as much of a quandary as mine is today.

It's hard to watch your children walk away from you...even for good reasons.  It wasn't easy the first time I left them in a church nursery.  It wasn't easy when I left them the first day of kindergarten.  It wasn't easy the first day they drove off by themselves in a car.  And though I've had plenty of practice, it's not easy letting your boy-man fly off half way across the world.  *Sigh*

Motherhood brings as much joy as ever, but it still brings boredom, exhaustion, and sorrow too. Nothing else ever will make you as happy or as sad, as proud or as tired, for nothing is quite as hard as helping a person develop his own individuality especially while you struggle to keep your own. -Marguerite Kelly and Elia Parsons