As I worked through the emotions of my teen daughter requesting the changes she needed in her life to be the teenager she needed to be, my fear and loneliness of losing her became apparent.
As I worked through it, and reminded myself to “let it all be”, to “let her drive her bus”, I did a deep dive on what was happening inside me.
I realized I was not needed by her like she had before and this came with an understanding that both of us needed to transform so I could support her and be her safety net as she needed it as a teen, not a child.
This brought me to the realization that everything (relationships included) has an expiration date, and I can enjoy what I have here now, and give thanks for the experience of what was, or what will be. I can hold onto what is here now.
The empty mom arms that I was emotional about suddenly were full. Full with the joy of the memories of my little girl, of us playing, singing, hanging together. These joyous memories were so many that my arms were soon overfilled with them, leaving no room for emptiness.
It also made me appreciate my mom and dad more and more. How they let me go when I needed to go out and explore the world and how they filled their empty arms with joyous memories of my childhood.