Bea Lewis

 While talking on the phone with one of my daughters the other night, I felt she sounded a little down in the dumps. "Are you OK?" I asked. "Fine," she answered.

But without saying so, I projected that she might be feeling lonely as both her daughters are off to college or visiting friends during Spring Break .  Her house must be amazingly quiet. . No hair dryers going full tilt. No computers hard at work text messaging or skyping.  No dirty dishes piled hig in the sink or half eaten bags of chips leaving a trail of crumbs from one room to another. Whatever was in the fridge the night before is still in there today. 

The good news is how clean the house stays.The sad news, however,  is the realization that the chickens have flown the coop and mama is sitting there wondering where the years went. How did time - and the chicks - get away in a blink of an eye? 

My daughter denied she felt down, but as I  scrolled back to the days when she and her sisters were off to college,  I remember the ache in my heart that signaled how deeply I missed them.  But on the other side, I relished my new- found freedom..

I still get that heart ache whenever any one of my three daughters leave after visiting with us in Florida. Since they fly thousands of miles to be with us , we usually spend 24/7 with each other. The bonding is wonderful, but the good-byes for me are painful. 

 But then again, ache in my heart dissipates, when, after they leave, my house is clean and neat once more and I can get back to MY routine again.

That's life. The chicks gotta fly. For if they don't, they will stay stuck in the coop forever. So a little sadness is woth the joy of seeing them grow into their own - and for me to have a life apart, yet together.