Laila is growing up. I know this, but it came back into bell-clanging reality when she announced, " I just got my airplane ticket to fly to North Carolina to see my marine."
She didn't ask permission.
She didn't ask for help.
She just announced.
What do I do with that?
Laila is 19 years old now, but only out of high school for 8 months, and she feels "high-schooly" to me still. It seems like she should be asking permission, she should be asking for help, she should want to talk things through with me and get my reactions and my opinions.
But she doesn't.
She wants to prove she's grown up and can make her own decisions and spend her own money and do her own thing.
And she can. And she does.
And I love her and there's nothing she can do about it.
Sometimes I wish we liked more of the same things.
I ask her to go get a pedicure. She says no most of the time. I ask her to go shopping with me. She says no thanks. I ask her to go to church. She says maybe. I ask her to go see a rom-com movie with me. She says she doesn't like that kind. I ask her to clean up after her dog. She does it on her time. The good news is she doesn't need to say yes to any of this for me to love her.
I just get to love.
And I know she loves me right back.
She's my last born. She's the one keeping my toe in the teenage years.... for ten more months anyway.... and then maybe she'll marry her marine. Hopefully, I will know about this BEFORE it actually happens.
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