This goodbye is different

I said goodbye to him a couple of hours ago. I have said goodbye to him a lot over the past four years. I said goodbye each year after I helped him move into his dorm at Murray State. I said goodbye the numerous times that I visited him in Murray. I said goodbye after he came home to visit from school. And I said a difficult goodbye to him in the Atlanta airport 2 years ago when he went to study abroad in Spain and I knew I wouldn’t see him for four months. And he was an ocean away. Today’s goodbye was different. Today starts a new chapter in his life. He will no longer live in our home. In the future, he will just be visiting. So this time is different. He has left the nest. I knew this would happen someday. But it doesn’t mean I am happy about it. I am going to miss him being around. Even just those brief encounters. I will miss those. I will miss his presence. I will miss those unintentional moments. From now on, there will have to be intentional to see him face-to-face–either from…