The first impressions of my son and daughter when they were born are imprints that will stay with me forever. Babies represent new hopes, a better me, a second and third chance to get things right. It takes years to undo that kind of thinking. I have come to understand that as soon as the umbilical cord is cut, the child is a separate being.
Sometimes when I look at my children (now 24 and 26 and much taller than me) I still see two helpless crying infants. It seems Mother Duck is following the ducklings instead of the other way around. Learning to let go and turn the gaze back on myself, I have to remind my father to do the same. His 55-year old daughter doesn’t want to tell him about all her coming and going. Parental love from a distance is good love.
