No experience in life can top the privilege of being father to a child - no career move, no fame and glory, no amount of money, and no experience with chemically stimulated neurons, can beat that of interacting with one’s child.
I have three daughters: Jessica, Lisa and Amy (from left to right). They are supergirls. Amazing girls for their capacity for putting up with their father: he fetches them late from school; he is often out in the evenings; he is hard on them, expecting high standards of academic work and ethical behaviour; he is known to be grumpy when tired; and he farts and burps.Which is really the long way around saying that I have taken my relationship with my three daughters for granted. That is until the dreaded words hit our family home a few weeks ago. And I have sat with the words inside of me, unable to give expression to what I am feeling. Jessie, (the one on the left) comes home and announces that she has been accepted by a school in England next year as a music assistant. Shit! I am hit by two conflicting emotions. On the one hand I am so proud of her. She got out there and found the position all by herself. She competed against a host of other applications and got chosen. She is so excited about the prospect of teaching the rudiments of music to six year olds. And then the other emotion hit me – the one I have taken three weeks to identify: the feeling of pain and separation. In seven months time the family is splitting up. And there is absolutely nothing I can do to halt this process. In fact I have already bought her plane ticket.
Pray for me:
that I can accept the next stage of growth in my life with grace and joy.
3 comments:
I been there, done that- so I know exactly how you feel. I cried for two week solid when my daughter left for the UK.
She has been gone for 3 years now and I still have moments of sadness, loss and many tears.
My advice for the day - try to focus on the excitement for now. The pain will be enough when the actual time comes, 7 months down the road.
It's not a detour you need to take for now, stall it my friend!
When that time comes - I too will cry for you.
There is nothing better than having a father who cares and is more that willing to get involved. I really appreciate having a father's input into my life
LG
The warrior of ligh sometimes fights with those he loves.
The man who deends his friends is never overwhelmed by the storms of life; he is strong enough to come through difficulties and to carry on.
However, he is often forced by challenges from those he is trying to teach the art of the sword. His disciples provoke him into fighting with them.
And the warrior demonstrates his abilities; with just a few blows he disarms his students, and harmony returns to the place where they meet.
'Why bother to do that, when you are so much better than they are?' asks the traveller.
'Because in challenging me, what they really want is to talk to me and this is my way of keeping the dialoge open.' replies the warrior.
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