My dear son,

Tonight is your last night sleeping in our home.  You have been an adult for nearly two years now, but I’ve been fortunate enough to still see you at the dinner table and ask you about your day or open your bedroom door and see you sleeping or hear the sound of your laugh float down the stairs. You have reached that ever-so-important milestone of moving out into a place of your own. I am so very happy for you! Honest. As parents, this is what we’ve been preparing you for since birth. We’ve been guiding, leading and directing you towards a life of meaningful and responsible adulthood. And we are celebrating this giant step into adulthood with you.

Moving out of our nest here at home means a lot of things. It means you will now pay for your own roof, you’ll buy and prepare your own food, and you’ll learn how to pay for your own vehicle registration without me. It means that you’ll experience day to day life without the protection of your parents. It means that your little sisters will no longer knock on your door, or worse yet, open it without permission. It means you will no longer hear the sounds of your family day and night. But there are some things that will not change and I need you to know what they are. You are forever my son, and every single day of my life I will pray for you. As long as I have breath, I am here to listen to you, and to tell you that I love you. I won’t rescue you from any bad choices you may make, but I’ll stand beside you proudly and encourage you while you rise up from a fall. I will always believe in you, I will always see the best in you, and I will always smile when you walk through our front door. Anytime you want a meal, you can come home and find a seat at our table. And whenever you need a place of refuge, you will find it, here in my heart.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be your mom and it’s been my honor to see you grow into the man you are today. I look back on the last (nearly) 20 years since you entered my world and I’m taken back by how incredibly fast they passed. I wish I could have heard you call me mommy one more time, I wish I could have read you a bed time story one more time, I wish I could have watched you ride your bike one more time, I wish for your hand to reach for mine one more time, but those days have gone by and I now have to fully step into my role as a mother of an adult son. I’m not sure what that looks like or how it all works, so please be patient with me while I figure it out and learn my new position in your life. I promise you this, I will surely mess up, but it will be with the best of intentions.

And while I have you captive for one more night, here under our roof, I have a few last reminders. Always seek God, your purpose and hope will rest in your relationship with Jesus. Always treat a lady in the same way you’d want a man to treat your sisters, with respect and kindness. Always put as much money as you can into savings, you’ll be way happier you did that instead of buying that drink from Dutch Bros every day. Always look for the good in others, it’s there and you’ll want people to do the same for you. Always keep learning, we never “arrive” to an all-knowing place, so remain curious. Always forgive, it’s not for them, it’s for you. And always, always remember to call your mom from time to time, because every single day she will be wondering how life is going for you and she will be missing you.

Enjoy what lies ahead. Be present and soak it all in.

I love you. It’s that crazy kind of love that only us mommas have, don’t forget that.

Mom