Growing Pains:

One night you lay awake -- for hours -- thinking about an earlier telephone conversation and all you can do is worry. You pray your most earnest prayers. Your heart aches. And you long to hold her in your arms again and rock her and tell her that, "Mommy's here. It's alright, Mommy's here." What can you say to your child to make things better? What wisdom can you bestow upon her that will ease her worries, dry her tears? What can you say long distance to your child that will make everything alright? You want to tell her that although today was hard, things will get better... and then again, they will get harder still. Is she too young to understand about the ebb and flow of life?

The next morning, the sun rises. It's a new day and she calls very early to tell you that all is well. She's moved on and talks with excitement about her new job assignment. You hang up the phone. Sitting at the breakfast table with a coffee cup at your elbow and a headache born of too little sleep and too much crying, you try to focus. Ah, motherhood!