Mothers and Daughters

Tonight Julia and I will board our plane at 10:45pm. This is the flight known as the "red-eye flight". We will arrive in NYC at 7:05am, a bit bleary-eyed and unsure, no doubt, only to hop on board our 9:50am flight to Syracuse where my wonderful hubby will gather us up with all our luggage (the bags will be bulging and two more will be added to the count - mom has managed to find time for shopping...) at 10:48am and whisk us home to my white house with the red roof on Main Street in smalltown, NY.

Leaving my daughter behind with her husband and baby son is not pleasant. In fact I have contemplated staying here in California a bit longer. The activities here have been hindered by sickness on our part and theirs - Danica is the only one who has been entirely healthy. I would love another week of grocery shopping, cooking, gardening, and all that stuff - with her, of course. Obviously, upon arrival in upstate NY I will find ample opportunity for such things, but not with her.

I miss her. How wrong it seems when a mother leaves her daughter in some far off place. Shouldn't she be near me, sharing everyday stuff? I know I felt that way when Brietta was in Pittsburgh. Mothers like daughters to be nearby. At least this one does.

But life isn't always quite so simple. They were made for Him above all, and wherever He leads, they follow.

I remember the words from a simple lullaby sung on Beginner's Bible by Jodi Benson, a mother's contemplation of time slipping by and babes growing older-

Each step that you take will be further away,
But to stop you is not what I'd choose.

Soon I will fly home to the ones still there. I cherished my time here; I will cherish my time with them, knowing that one day they may be elsewhere, living lives, making choices, cooking and cleaning and making another place home.

So, home I will fly, home to a wonderful man and family. Incredibly blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.