by Deborah Rogers
CBC News was interviewing people on the street, asking them what date they consider to be the start of the year. It was an odd sort of question – New Year’s Day is January 1st – but I understood what they were getting at. The start of the school year is for many a time of change or new plans, or just a return to routine, and it feels like a natural time for re-evaluation.
Of our small Seaside Magazine team there are three of us who have said goodbye to our young-adult children this month, sending them off to new exciting lives at university. Speaking for myself, it’s been a huge, emotional upheaval! I hadn’t quite expected how upsetting it would be, even though I’m thrilled for my son’s success and the experiences he’ll be having. I’ve felt a little rudderless without the child I’ve cared for for 18 years. I recognize how much I define myself through my role as a mother: who even am I without him to feed?
What I’ve tried hard not to do is to put any of my feelings on to him. At 18 I was heading off on a plane across the Atlantic. I clearly remember how terrified I was, and sad to say goodbye to my family. They were great though about encouraging me to take a leap into the unknown, and never made me feel guilty for moving away, or responsible for their sadness. Leaving home was scary and thrilling and I’m so grateful I got the chance to have that experience of independence.
It’s the natural order; with the turning of the seasons, our children will grow up and move away and have lives of their own. And maybe we’ll have different lives without them at home. With different requirements on my time, who knows what else I can do!
I hope that you are enjoying the change of season, whether it brings a new circumstance to your life, or just a return to familiar rhythms.
Photo by Janis Jean Photography. Clothing provided and styled by Style Coast. For more, visit www.stylecoast.ca.
