On Young Children

Most think separation and its related feelings of anxiety are just for babies. We had a family reunion this past weekend. Just two parents, one child with spouse, one child (recently separated) with 9-month-old grandchild. All had a wonderful four days. When it came to say goodbye, grandchild cried really loudly (she knew something was happening); and Gramma Shannie cried the hardest. Separation anxiety began for me at that first separation each time I gave birth (I’m sure there are similar moments for those who have children join their family in other ways). As I discovered yesterday on a beautiful summer afternoon, I’m still experiencing it. The rental bathroom sink, filled for 4 glorious days with all kinds of toothbrushes and several flavors of matching paste, was a now a wasteland featuring splashes of dried paste and two lonely toothbrushes belonging to the sad grandparents already planning the next reunion.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 at 11:50 am and is filed under thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.