Parting with Erika is Such Bittersweet Sorrow

Had a hard time on New Year’s Eve, I can’t deny that. A couple of hours before the countdown my wife and I left with our 19-year-old to send her off from Halifax to Hawaii. She is volunteering there with a mission organization known as YWAM (Youth With A Mission). As a teenager, one of my favourite bands sang a song about them. As a college professor I used to teach a class on the various parachurch organizations that had been established in the history of youth ministry, and their organization was one of them. And now, my daughter was going to be volunteering a few months of her life to serve with them.

I’d be lying to say she wasn’t scared about traveling there on her own. She would tell you that herself. The peek of that fear hit her just before heading into the airport. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic we could only drop her off at the Departures gate and do our hugs goodbye standing by the trunk of our car. With her passport and COVID-19 test ready, she walked into the airport. Not with Mommy and Daddy. By herself.

Me wearing a ball cap the way cool people do. Erika likes me to wear it like that.

Joy and I are proud of her, to be sure; but, we hated to let her go. This is the beginning of the empty nesting phase of our lives. To this point things have changed a bit: Our oldest is employed and has her own apartment. She still lives very close, and most of the time it feels like she really is still living with us. Our youngest is in high school, his room is just upstairs, and most of the time it feels like he really isn’t living with us. But with Erika on New Year’s Eve, this was different. We were letting her go on her own. Far away. She is more than capable to do so, which gives us such pride and happiness. Still, we crossed a threshold, one of many to come, that signifies a major change in our lives. We stayed up most of the night checking the status of her connection flight and seeing if she’d arrived safely. SPOILER ALERT: she did.

Like with any parent, I insist that our kids are the best in the world. Letting them go is hard, but it’s also special. Their first needle, their first day of school, their first exam, their first time driving… They all come with at least a little bit of heartbreak, and are to be enjoyed and cherished at the moment they happen. Today, with a pile of emotions clamouring for attention inside of us, we celebrate our Erika.

And now to movie matters…

Congratulations Mary Poppins. This is your week.

And the Oscar goes to…

Best Actress:

Dame Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins

Best Actor: Bill Murray as himself in Space Jam

Best Quote: “Roger, darling. I want you to know I love you. I’ve loved you more than any woman’s ever loved a rabbit.” — Kathleen Turner as Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit

I didn’t write about this last week because she was actually in transit on her journey. It just didn’t seem right to disclose where our daughter was on the Internet. Not that bad guys are feverishly reading my blog for clues, but a Daddy’s concern for his little girl knows no bounds.