Make time for the ones you love

I have four children whom I dearly love, but it's hard to spend time with them because none of them live close. And while I do my best to be part of their lives through phone calls, texts, and emails, I'd rather see them in person on a daily basis like I did when they were younger and all lived at home. I understand they're grown and have their own lives. I'm proud of each of them and know they're busy with their own families, but I still need them. 

My youngest daughter is in constant touch. I get phone calls every day and our relationship is just about as tight as it always was but with the others, it's a challenge. My son works 2 jobs and is now spending time running back and forth helping take care of his grandchildren. My oldest daughter lives in another state and is always busy with her 5 children and their extracurricular activities. My middle daughter only lives about an hour away, but homeschools her daughter and spends a lot of time serving in her church. All of them stay busy and I do my best to respect their time, but occasionally, am needy. That's why I reached out and established a monthly Mother Daughter day. I wanted to schedule a time to devote solely to her. Middle children always seem to get the shaft and it's not fair. I wanted to remedy that. 

When I mentioned the concept to her, she readily agreed it would be fun. So for the past few months, we've looked at our calendars and figured out a day that worked best for each of us. Yesterday was our special day and we both looked forward to it. 

When she arrived, I was so happy to see her. After a big hug and a quick goodbye to my hubby, we headed out to lunch. It was nice to get out and catch up over a good pizza and then do some shopping. When the day was over, I was sad. I wanted more time but understood she had to get back home to her waiting husband and daughter. 

Growing old is hard. Having grown children who live far away is even more hard, especially since all I knew, for the majority of my life, was being a mother. I loved it with all my heart. This season of life is interesting. While I enjoy spending time with my husband doing the things we enjoy doing, I still need my "kid fix" every day. 

I don't like living so far away from the kiddos and hope, in the near future, to move closer to one of them. As we grow older and our health declines, we're going to need someone to help us out. That time seems to be quickly approaching. 

I'm so thankful God allowed me to have 4 beautiful children, 9 very special grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. My quiver is definitely full! I don't know what I'd do without them.