Parting is such sweet sorrow . . .

That quote has become so cliche, but I don't mean to sound trite. I have been thinking a lot lately about the "sweet sorrow" of parting, and about the pain associated with it -- particularly when it comes to my children. Braden has a best friend named Alex. I think those two would spend every single minute together if we let them. After spending a couple of hours with the two of them when he was visiting, Morgan's Dad commented, "to call them best friends is an understatement!" They are already planning on being college roommates in ten years! They have one of those rare friendships that we all wish for. They love spending time together so much that they usually cry when we have to split them up. So the thought of putting thousands of miles in between them makes me so sad for my sensitive, loving little boy. He won't understand my thoughts on the "sweet sorrow" of parting right now, but maybe someday. I remember crying for three days straight when I had to leave my friends Amanda and Jenny when I was in third grade. Now I understand how my Mom must have felt -- how helpless as she watched her child experience real pain for the first time.

I have a better understanding now -- I know that I will always be friends with those who I love, and that the world really is small. So we will see each other again. But I still mourn the passing of my life as I know it, and my separation from those I see every day. So with my new, grown-up understanding, I think I'll only cry for two days. Yes, there is still so much sorrow in saying goodbye, but the sweetness is in the sorrow. Because there wouldn't be sorrow if there was no love.

As for the pain, I understand that a little better now, too. I know I can't fix everything for my kids, as much as I want to. If I did, they wouldn't experience what they need to in order to become who they are supposed to be. So maybe pain isn't all bad. Of course, some pain is bad, and senseless, but other pain is useful and the means for attaining great things. Most worthwhile accomplishments involve pain -- running a marathon, going to school, childbirth! But the pain makes the end result that much sweeter. The thought that gets me through childbirth is "this pain is progress." I know that as each wave of pain comes over me I am that much closer to holding my beautiful new baby. So maybe thinking of this pain as we part from our loved ones as progress will help us achieve our end result -- whatever the Lord has in store for us.