Parenting is a slow progression of goodbyes, of letting go bit by bit until the ones we love fly away to begin their own journey. First steps. First grade. Middle school. And today, this birdie heads off for a class trip to Washington D.C. and his older brother and I will spend the next couple of days looking at colleges. Colleges! Already!

How can it be that time has moved this quickly and my birdies have moved ever closer to the edge of the nest? Parenting is the only time in life when we willingly pour everything we have into another human being, despite knowing full well they will leave us. This is real love. Selfless love. The Love we learn from the Top down. It is the joy and the plight of every one of us who answers to the call of Mom or Dad.