Saying good-bye

I sent off my daughter and her family yesterday to live for the next three years in Australia. Wow! I can hardly believe that they've actually left. We spoke about it so often in the past few months and, as the time approached, I felt like I was missing her already.

How does one say, "Good-bye?" As my daughter said repeatedly, "Don't worry. We'll be back for the holidays (at least once annually)." But the promise of "coming back" somehow doesn't ameliorate the pain of leave-taking.

What did make a difference for me was the few moments that my daughter and I took to reaffirm our relationship. There, at the airport, I turned to her and said, "I'm very proud of you." She, in turn, repeated the phrase, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." I answered, "I just gave you the courage; you are doing the rest yourself."

These few moments of mutual love and appreciation cemented our bond. I know that we will think of each other often and that we'll continue to communicate, wherever we may be. Our tears, as we each turned away, were full of pride and joy.