Today was a day of realization for me. It was the day I realized that when you teach your child to be a strong independent woman, who thinks for herself, and then send her off to college to get a good education, the day will come when she packs her suitcase, says goodbye and goes off to China for a year to teach. Today was that day and while I am as proud as I possibly can be, I have also shed more than a few tears.
Alex
Alex
Hi, Alex, when I graduated from college I was thrilled to win a Watson fellowship, which allowed me to spend an entire year traveling around Europe on my own studying Black Madonnas. This was in 1982, before Internet, e-mail, and everything. It must have been incredibly hard on my mom since although I used to write letters regularly and call from time to time (you had to go to the post office to do it, no calling cards) most of the time she didn't even know where I was! So thank goodness for modern technology--although your daughter's across the world like I was, at least you'll be able to communicate with her regularly! Perhaps you can even Skype with her!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughtful post. I know she will probably be fine, and, as you say there, is email and, thank goodness, Skype. It is hard to let go, yet necessary and what we both want. I suspect it was also hard on my mom when I announced I was moving to Arizona for a few years. Ah, one of the cycles of life, I guess.
ReplyDeleteAlex