Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Waving Good-Bye

  As I sat next to my son at the DMV today, waiting for our number to be called, I found myself suddenly fighting back tears.

 I'm not sure if there's a word for the emotion that causes these unbidden tears, but I know most parents are all too familiar with them. They're the ones you cry when something wonderful happens, but in that bit of wonderful, you feel you've lost something too.
 They're the tears you cry when your child says their first words or takes their first steps.
 They're the ones that fall when you drop them off for their first day of school or they ride their bike without training wheels for the first time.
They're the ones you cry behind the closed front door when they leave to spend the night away from home for the first time or to go out on their first date.

 They're also the tears you cry when they buy their first car.

 Well, I managed to make it out of the DMV without embarrassing either of us. I made it through the ride home, I made it through putting the new licence plates on his car, and I even made it through the hug and kiss he gave me when he thanked me for all my help.

  Watching his smiling face as he drove down the street waving good-bye, that proved to be a little too much for me.
   The tears finally won the fight.




1 comment:

  1. Their achievements and milestones are what we as parents hope and pray for. At the same time as they spread their wings and prove their worth to the world it means leaving the nest. Job well done you've raised a child that knows what he wants and will live his life unhindered by your emotions. It's what every child wants from their parent. I've cried the tears too for loss, but also for joy knowing that I have successfully raised 2 boys who have the capability to step out in this big world and make an impact in it. Try not to think of it as waving good-bye...just waving forward.
    Great post, I remember the day Billy and Vance got their first cars, I cried all over again with you. Bitteresweet...

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