The House and the Road

Sent my oldest off to college Monday morning. You know, it's a conundrum. On one hand I want him to go, to want the new experiences, knowledge, and, yes, make his own mistakes, but on the other hand I want him to cling to me, telling me he doesn't want to leave, that he loves me. that he'll miss me. How much harder this would be, though, if I was having to pry his fingers from me, from the lintel of the front door, pushing him out the door to get him on his way. So I'm not really sad, but I do miss him already. A friend sent me this poem that made me cry a little:

The House and the Road
By Josephine Preston Peabody (1874-1922)

The little Road says, Go,
The little House says, Stay:
And O, it's bonny here at home,
But I must go away.

The little Road, like me,
Would seek and turn and know;
And forth I must, to learn the things
The little Road would show!

And go I must, my dears,
And journey while I may,
Though heart be sore for the little House
That had no word but Stay.

Maybe, no other way
Your child could ever know
Why a little House would have you stay,
When a little Road says, Go.