Missing My Kids...

The 3rd of my four children has been gone for the last couple of days on a Beta Club trip. It has been so strange with just one child here--very empty. None of our children are very loud or boisterous, but when one is missing you can feel it. Almost two years ago, our oldest left home after graduating from high school. We were in the middle of moving to another state, and he decided to move in with his grandparents and work and go to school. It was so hard to see him drive out of the driveway, and know he was not coming back.

When the next one left, for school this past fall, again, I felt an emptiness (I guess this is one reason it is called the empty nest syndrome). I am so grateful for modern technology. I was never one for text messaging, but since the kids have left, I have become an avid texter. It's almost like they are here (almost...). I can communicate with them anytime I want, even if it's just a "hey! it's 70 degrees today!!! (that is for my daughter in Utah where it's been 20's and snowy everyday).

Letting my son go with the Beta Club was not easy. You see, I homeschooled for ten years, and seeing one of my babies go with a group of school kids I don't know as well as I would like, some 5 hours away is not a easy thing for me. He has been taught well, and, hopefully, he will have fun and make good choices while he is gone. I miss his smiling face, his hugs, and his caring thoughts, and am anxious to go pick him up this evening and hear about his adventures!