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A View of the Empty Nest from Cruising Altitude
The everything, everywhere, all at once of motherhood
Thirty thousand feet up, somewhere between Oregon and New York, I caught a glimpse of forever. Sitting in seat 10B, in between my two daughters, my heart pierced with the knowing of how a mother’s love straddles the universe. In a single moment I felt sadness and joy, yesterday and tomorrow, nowhere and everywhere.
On my left, the younger one stares out the window. At 18, I suspect her thoughts swirl with anxious excitement about the big city university life she’s about to begin. The older one to my right seems ready to squeeze every ounce of joy from her senior year of college, along with the wish that it might never end.
I sit between them, occasionally holding their hands, sensing their thoughts and emotions as I connect them to my own life experience. We travel these few hours in flight, from one state to another — both literal and figurative. I feel the depth of every moment.
The sadness of impending goodbyes and the joyful excitement of experiences to come bubbles up in me too. The flashes of their yesterdays bounce around inside: the baby cuddles, the innocent questions about life, the eagerness to grow up.
