A Grown Daughter

My darling teen, still a teenager, but now is 19 yrs. old.  She graduated high school last school session and here we are about to start another new school year and this is very different for me! No buying paper, pencils and all those things to start back to school...no clothes or shoes and my life feels quite different. I see families all around me at the stores buying supplies and I miss those days.
 Within this year, my baby girl has graduated, gone off to the Navy, gotten married to a Navy boy...and  she is VERY happy and I am happy for her, but she lives far away now and I miss having her here.
We still have our horse and I hear  from her often but am counting my blessings from God that He gave me such a wonderful daughter to raise.
  Are you close with your daughter? I was close with mine, but always stayed the "mother" and not a best friend.  I found that  it worked best that way for us.  Mothers and daughters can share a close bond....it also helps when they move away and find a new life of their own.

Learning how to treat my now adult teen has been a chore for me. I have spent my whole life teaching her things so she will be prepared when she became an adult, and now that she has, I still find myself in the same teaching mode. She tells me "mom, I remember that you taught me that already" so I guess I have done my job. Although I don't feel that a mom's work is ever finished, I know that she is now on her own and will be doing most things on her own. I miss having my darling daughter here with me, especially during her high school years. Living those high school years was so much fun. Aside from the studying for tests and all the homework, things went rather smoothly. My daughter was a joy, and I miss her dearly. I find that now with her gone, I no longer have anyone to discuss things with, or take shopping with me, but I am learning how to be an empty-nester. I still have her horse close by that I go and visit, but I will be so happy when my daughter comes home to visit...and that should be soon...but it won't be a long visit because she will be leaving to her next duty station. Enjoy your teen daughters while they are still at home, because once they leave, there's a big change in your life.