This article by Michael Gerson was so beautifully written it made me cry!
He writes about the heartbreak of dropping his child off at college.
I have felt this heartbreak so many times with my own children–and they’re only 7 and 9! I call it the “cruel dialectic of parenting.” Creating and raising these little beings I love so deeply and profoundly– I want to keep them in my arms forever, to protect them from pain and hurt, to make their world beautiful…
But that’s not parenting.
Parenting is loving these beings so desperately, but still letting them walk out into the world, knowing they are going to get hurt.
Parenting is taking your child to school for the first time, entrusting other adults to care for them– to hold them when they fall, to bandage up their booboos, and give them a high five for no reason at all. Parenting is an endless series of letting the things you love most go away from you, so these things you love most can grow and flourish into their own self-reliant beings–without you. It’s so beautiful and heartbreaking and stunning and miraculous and … common. Gerson writes “Parenthood offers many lessons in patience and sacrifice. But ultimately, it is a lesson in humility. The very best thing about your life is a short stage in someone else’s story.” To read the whole beautiful article, click here.
