This Is One Of Them

Cactus garden. Madeira, Portugal. Photo by Caroline Fernandes

It feels good to have a relatively unplanned weekend at home. As good, or better, as it sometimes does to have a full one.

Last week our eldest graduated from college and two days before that our youngest went off to a semester abroad in South Africa to study human rights and social change.

In the days before she left we were discussing favorite quotes. I thought the one below is good for younger people especially. I can remember thinking that the world might be over when I had a bad day.

But what does a mother say to a child when she is putting her on a plane, to the other side of the earth, to one of the ten most dangerous places in the world, especially for a woman ?

Don't go?

I love you?

I miss you already?

Come back to us safe and sound?

In the end what I came up with is my realization (not that long ago actually) that we need to be our own best friend.

Is this something that a mother should let her daughter discover for herself?

Maybe.

Do I wish that my mom had told me this?

I do.

So I told her that no one is really watching out for us or is as dependable as we are to ourselves.

This is because no one knows us as well as we know ourselves or cares about us as much we do.

I also told her to take good care of her "best friend". 

Body, mind, and spirit.

And to let the love for herself continue to grow. 

I weep as I write this now.

As I wept when she left.

I told her that I would be here, waiting for her,

being my own best friend too.