Saying Good-Bye.......

to the holidays and our full nest......

Bittersweet.

The White Christmas that we were hoping for finally arrived.....not exactly when we wanted to see it....it was 2 weeks too late.
Thankfully, our house is still completely decked out in all it's holiday splendor.
So, we could pretend.....even for just a moment.
It provided a scenic backdrop for our good-byes and well wishes as our almost PhD packed up his repaired car to head back over the snowy mountains to PhDland.
As the snow fell and the winds blew---we said farewell to what is probably his very last extended Christmas break.
Now that he's *this* close to ending his career as a student and he's talking about his applications for real jobs and post doc work around the country.....next year will be quite different.
I felt it in my mother's heart as he pulled out of the driveway.
Something special has come to an end.
Somehow the falling snow made it even more bittersweet.
If I wasn't so busy shivering from the cold and barking orders about driving in the snow and other motherly directives, I would have shed some tears.
But, I kept my composure and told myself that maybe the next chapter holds many new exciting things to look forward to.
And, the snow fell.
Lots of good memories remained.
And we said good-bye.

This morning I'm thankful for those memories.