Just the Two of Us

You would think that, as long as I have been alive, I should know that life is full of surprises. With all those surprises life is bursting out the seams with, I should know that a few are bound to come my way. All too often, I forget.

Last week my aunt called me to tell me that the wee one was heading to Zimbabwe to live for a while. Oh, and he was leaving in a week. From the way I felt about not being able to see or at least chat with him at least once a week, I knew that this was an unbelievably difficult and painful decision for her. The wee one is sunshine. I could say he is cute and charming and funny and fun and kind and well-behaved and sweet and clever and I would still have hundreds more words to describe him. Even after going through the list (if it ever came to an end) I may still not be able to properly convey how having him in my life, in our lives, affects us. He opens our eyes and our hearts in new and unimagined ways; he makes us want to go out and explore and imagine and enjoy the world; he never fails to surprise us. And now he was off to take his sunshine to our family in Zimbabwe. Lucky them.

So, last week, I got to see him and his mom quite often but Friday came way too soon for us. Off we were to the airport, with lots of bags and a heavy sadness to boot. As we were waiting for the airline attendant to check in all the luggage, the wee one and I decided to play around with the camera and silly faces. He really is just the best thing ever.

Is this what Shakespeare meant when he spoke of the "sweet sorrow" of parting? I knew that he will have an incredibly time in Zimbabwe - what with all the space he will have to run around and all the family he will have to play with - but I am sad that he had to go so far away.