Time To Let Go Again

Thirty-one years ago, Janet and I stood at the door and watched Anthony, our son, board the school bus for kindergarten.  We both cried, knowing he would no longer be ours completely.  We had to share him with the rest of the world for it was the law!  Three years later this scene repeated itself.  Our youngest son, Nathan, left for kindergarten, just as Anthony had done on another September morning.  Now, the world and my wife and I would play a tug-o'-war over a fifteen-year period for possession of what we felt was rightfully ours.  Time would determine the winner. 

The years clicked away, and both sons matured and moved out--Anthony to marriage and a career as a nurse anesthetist and Nathan to a life of his own as a microbiologist in North Carolina.  I longed to have them little again--longed to do a better job of parenting the next time around.  But life doesn't work that way.  We are forced to let go of the past. 

Several years after Anthony and Cheryl were wed, they asked us to join them for dinner at Outback.  Cheryl handed me a gift bag from across the table.  It contained a pair of booties, letting Janet and me know that grandparenting would soon be part of our daily routine.  After months of waiting, Andrew arrived.  Three years later, Tanner came along.  Now, in a sense, both my boys were little again.  Here was my chance to do a better job the second time around, and I really believe I have.    

Again, time passed, and Andrew was off to kindergarten.  Today, and three years later, Tanner did the same as his Uncle Nathan.  It hurts just as bad as before--this having to share my grandsons with the world.  Now, the tug-o'-war has begun anew for it is time, once again, to let go.