Emotions Unfolded

The hardest thing for any parent is sending their child away. It feels like a piece of your soul is being carried away, and it is such a painful feeling. It seems like just yesterday when Anika came into my life and I stepped into the beautiful world of motherhood. From that moment, everything changed. She became my reason to live, my purpose. Days, months, and years passed by so quickly, and now here we are, with Anika beginning a new phase of her life, her college journey.
Even though we will still be in the same city and will get to meet often, this is not really about distance. It is about a transition, a change of phase. Just like a baby bird first learns to fly and then eventually leaves the nest to live on its own, our children also begin this process. It is a kind of gentle separation, not from parents, but from the home that was once their entire world, so they can begin creating a world of their own.
But at the heart of it all, the most important thing is that wherever our children go and whatever they do, may they always remain truly happy. And whenever life brings them any challenges, they should always know they have their parents and their home to come back to. My nest will always remain theirs. Their room will always be theirs, their place in this home will always belong to them. The new thing which is added now is the wait, the wait for them to come back.
Today I realize what my father must have felt when I left his nest. I still remember the tears in his eyes as he held my face at the airport when I was leaving India to chase my dreams. The pain I saw in him that day, I understand now, because it is my turn to feel it as my own child prepares to step out.
Perhaps this is what parenting truly is—the immense and unconditional love we feel for our children, a love that nothing and no one can ever replace. Maybe one day, when we become grandparents, our children’s children will give us a glimpse of that same love. For now, that moment is still far away.
The story of every mother, spoken from a mother’s heart.