This is regarding “Off to school” (Voice of the People, Aug. 30), by letter writer Jack Spatafora.
To all those parents who left their children at the kindergarten classroom door for the first time this fall, beware. Another day such as this is coming. It happens 12 quick years later, when you leave your child at the dorm room door.
This significant parting is also painful for Mom and Dad.
We left our daughter at her college dorm door on a recent Friday.
Even though you know the day is coming, it happens all too abruptly.
Daily we had been nurturing, supporting, teaching this child. We’d been there for homework, after-school activities, school meetings, fundraisers, countless overnights with friends, dances, the driver’s license and lots of arguments mostly over her battle for independence. We’ve seen her joy in successes and her tears in failures. We learned from her as she learned from us. Each day she came home and we could see and talk to her about her experiences.
We’ll miss that continual opportunity for interaction as she embarks on life on her own.
Now as I see parents here or there throughout the day with their young children, I silently urge them to love, hold, nurture, talk to and enjoy their little ones.
