The hardest part of saying goodbye to the old homestead is leaving behind the memories of my oldest daughter who abandoned the family in 1995. This story is not a happy one… I’ve cried enough tears through the years to fill a river.
Sometimes in life, things happen that hurt with a pain too difficult to describe.To survive, you have no choice but to move on.
I spent the last 15 years, reliving every moment (over and over again) of the eighteen years I was blessed with one of the sweetest, most loving daughters any Mother could ever wish for. If you asked me in 1995, I would have said nothing could ever come between this child and her family or alter my daughter’s perception of right and wrong. I was very naive. (After my daughter moved to the west coast, she eventually abandoned everyone who was part of her “former” life, not just her family.)
My heart broke for the three siblings who never understood why she abandoned them and for the Dad who loved his firstborn child and her sister and brothers more than anything in the world. (My husband had been told by Doctors after a serious illness, that he would never be able to father children. He proved them wrong!)
Though my daughter’s absence has affected all of our lives profoundly, I learned a very valuable lesson. Once children leave the nest you no longer can take their hand (like you did when they were little) and guide them around all the bumps and detours in the road. You have to love them enough to let go of their hand and pray that, if they get lost…they’ll eventually find their way home.
We love you Samantha Eve… Forever and always!
Debi Drecksler's passion is writing for and about the "guy on the street."
