Butterfly Kisses

This evening I listened to the song  Butterfly Kisses through a link in a news story -  I could not hold tears during the 5 minutes of this song!

I listened to the song  at least a dozen times before on radio. The affection of a father to his daughter, the melancholy and the love expressed all touched me, however never before had I such a strong emotional reaction like today.

At this time of our life, I have conflicting emotions. I want to have the boys close to us, to share their lives with us, I also want them to be independent, to have more friends of their own, to have more activities outside the family, to pursue their dreams.

In fact Justin will march on his life journey soon. He graduated from high school on May 9th, and will start college in the fall. I encourage him to go out more with his friends during this summer break. I also wish that he would have more time with us, participating in family activities. When he told us that he would go to a friend's commencement instead of a family outing, although I did not say a word I was a little bit sad. I don't blame him. I did much worse at his age myself. My widowed mom wished me to go to a very good university at my home town, I chose one a thousand miles away! She did not say anything about it; but  I still remember the tears that kept rolling down her face when I waved goodbye!

The sentiments in the Butterfly Kisses are universal: parents encouraging their children to "try their wings in a great big world" while wishing children would still be close to them. The feeling of joy and sadness at the same time at this junction of life - That's how the song resonates with me.