November Thankfulness - Day 13 - sniff sniff

I said my goodbyes to my older daughter this morning and made the long drive back to Ohio. You would think after almost 4 years of visiting my daughter at the Naval Academy I would be able to do a simple goodbye without feeling so sad.  As always - I am a trooper when saying goodbye. I look cheery.  I smile a big smile.  I look quite happy.  I give her one last goodbye and talk about how we will see each other again before too long and climb into my car.  I slowly drive away, looking in the rear view mirror to give last minute waves goodbye and drive off.  Without fail - within 10 minutes of my leaving her, the tears run down my face.  I can't help it.  I hate saying goodbye.  I still feel like my daughters should live in my home and I should be able to see them every day and eat dinner with them every night and chat about all the things that happened during the day.  Emotionally - I feel like they should still be with me but logically - I wouldn't want them to be anyplace else.  sigh.  It is a battle that lies within my mom heart.  I know they miss me too so we are equally sad.  Our hearts are full of wishing we were together.  I thought about my sadness on my drive home and decided that for today - I will be thankful for the sadness in my heart. I am thankful for the sadness because I know, without a doubt, no one feels this much sadness in saying goodbye without having a heart full of love. A heart that has spent every moment being loved by my children and loving them back. I know that the in order to miss my daughters to this extent only means that I love them with equal intensity. And so I will embrace the sadness and be glad that I am lucky enough to be sad in missing my girls. My heart is filled with a great love.  Who can ask for anything more to be thankful for?