Somewhere Far Away

Somewhere far away, this child sleeps.

Maybe not right this second, but at night.

I miss her.

I miss having her under my roof every night, and knowing exactly where she is and what she is up to.

I miss the innocence of her youth at this age.

I miss tapping on her door (because what teenager doesn’t live in their room) to ask her a quick question.

I miss listening to her and her dad talk and debate politics at the dining room table.

However, I enjoy the inside jokes that we share.

I enjoy watching her develop into herself and the woman she is meant to be.

I enjoy being the phone call she makes on her walk back from classes.

I enjoy the text messages she sneaks during class.

I enjoy the “mom can you look at my citations /email / essay” to make sure it/ they look right moments?

She hates this picture.

I adore this picture.

She says this picture is, “Creepy!”

I say this is a mom picture – a picture I took at the end of a rough preteen day full of angst to remind me how innocent she really was and that at the end of the day, she would return to being this sweet girl.

She is an adult now.

We survived those angsty teen years.

But I still keep this picture. Now it is to remind me that no matter how old she gets, my girl will always be my baby.