Scraped Knees

My heart is happy.

My oldest daughter moved out to BC earlier this year, and as a result, we do not get to see her very often. It is a strange feeling to wake up every morning and have someone so important to you no longer living in your house - and not even close enough to pop by and have a visit with. I miss her terribly. Don't get me wrong - she is following her path and is happy - for that I am very excited and grateful.

This weekend, she came for a visit. Yesterday, we were able to have some much needed Mom-Daughter time, and for the first time in a very long while, I felt whole again. I love how our relationship is evolving - and while I miss my 'little' girl, I am so incredibly proud of the woman she is becoming.

We had a great time reminiscing about the time she cut the screen out of her window in an attempt to have a bird fly into her room so she could have a pet. Thank goodness this never came to pass as I am deathly afraid of birds and probably would have had a heart attack if one was flying around in my house.

Of course, we had to talk about the time we had to call the fire department. We laughed at how they announced over the loud speaker that the oven was on fire to our entire neighbourhood hahaha. Oddly enough, no one ever accepted our invitation to come over for dinner after that . . .

I remember my little girl, who on the first day of school, fell and scraped her knee on her way out the door that morning. She was so upset - angry and scared she would be late for school and stinging from the scrape.  After some cuddling, deep breaths, and a healing band aid applied, we were back on our way so she could take part in that ever so exciting day.

If I could go back to that day, I think I might have told her this . . .

Life is full of scraped knees. Sometimes they happen because we aren't watching where we are going. Sometimes it's because we are in such a hurry and need a reminder to slow down. At other times, there will be no reason at all. They will sting. They may leave a mark. You can put a bandaid over it, but if you don't look after it, it will continue to open and take longer to heal. There are some scraped knees that are large and messy, but may not hurt very much. Others may be small and barely seem to scratch the surface, but hurt a great deal. Some may not leave a scar - others will. One thing that will ALWAYS be true is this . . .

I will be there to comfort you when you are hurting. I will be there to help you carefully clean and dress the wound in the hopes it won't leave a scar. If it does leave a scar, I will be there to listen when you talk about how you got it. I will be there to remind you that you have had many scraped knees in the past, and have always gotten through them . . . and you will this time too. 

I love you my beautiful daughter, and I promise you this - I will ALWAYS be there - no matter what. Thank you for being such a wonderful gift in my life.

xoxo