My Heart

The moment that you drive away,

My heart aches for you to stay for just one more hour, one more laugh, one more memory made.

The ticking of the clock, and my beating heart, shatter the deafening silence of the space you have left.

I fight back tears as I take in this emptiness, and remind myself to breathe.

I sit frozen in the quiet gentleness of the day, as time marches forward, relentless in its pursuit of nightfall.

I walk from room to room, searching for the happiness you have left behind, hanging in the air.

All I can find is your ghost. 

My heart is now full, but my home empty.

Gratitude overwhelms my soul. I am grateful for the moments, the photos, the memories.

I will wrap them all around me, in a warm blanket of love, until the next time I see you, hug you, laugh with you.

But this moment is still too raw for my heart to do that.

In this moment,  I cling to your presence, I feel the pain of letting you go.

Just as much as I did when you were little, and three hours away from you seemed like an eternity.  

When watching you climb the steps of the school bus, taking a piece of my heart with you, felt like a scraped knee. 

Tender to the touch, but I knew it would heal, in time.

Now, I will tend to my wound until it heals on some brighter day.

I will place one more box of memories on the shelf, in my mind.

I will love you fiercely, and miss you more, until you are home again.