How thankful I am today for all the parents who have traveled on ahead of me who knew exactly what to say and exactly how to comfort Ashley and me as we left our daughter at college!
Just when I would become overwhelmed with sadness, I’d receive a text from a mom who reminded me how it would feel like leaving a part of my heart somewhere else and how normal it was to feel certain ways. Or I’d receive a message from other parents reminding me what the car ride home would feel like and how to feel better. Then, a call would come from still another older parent to tell me how it was normal to feel so sad to see her empty bed or her missing seat at the dinner table. This morning, I received another message from a mom allowing me to ask any question I wanted about what it was like to live this new life without your daughter at home. They all remind me that it does feel better one day. You don’t keep crying every day of your life. Life is beautiful and rich and purposeful and good–even though right now is a strange transition to a strange new season of life.
I thought of 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 when I felt such comfort from others. Paul writes, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
This experience reminds me of the vital role older people play in the lives of the younger. I think of the time in my life when God has most comforted me and how, and then I think of how to pass on the wisdom to others.
So thank you to all who have been comforted who now comfort me.