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Feel it


The time was drawing near. My family and I would say goodbye to friends. So much of me wanted to avoid them because skipping the farewell seemed easier, but I knew better. Parting ways is hard no matter how it happens, so I determined myself to relish the moments left and focus on the good.

When the time came to wave our final goodbye, I saw my little boy standing at the door with tears rolling down his face. For as emotional as my kids are, I underestimate the strength of their feelings and the freedom they exhibit to display them.

I started verbalizing my own self talk in hopes it would help him cope as well as hold back my own emotions clawing to the surface. "We will see them again buddy. Let's think about the fun we had with them".  

His tears began to fall faster and he said, "but mom, I am sad".

Those precious words were so simple, so perfect, so natural and so clear. At that moment in time, he did not need to focus on the good to avoid the hard and neither did I. He needed feel that God given emotion we experience when we lose something dear. 

I let my tears fall and gave him a big hug. Something about sharing that hard moment together was so special. "It is ok to be sad buddy. I am sad too."

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