This is so beautifully written, and I can relate on so many levels. My son didn't go into military service, he went into religious service as a missionary for our church. Rules are that we are only allowed to speak once a week, no seeing him in person for the next two years (well, he left a year ago, so one year now).

The one thing that has surprised me most about being a mother is how different my children are from me. I don't know why that should be surprising to me, but it is. It is also anxiety-inducing, and yet wonderful at the same time, because they open doors into worlds I never knew anything about before they showed them to me.

With my son, it was robotics. I am a writer, what do I know about robots? But I showed up for his team to help them with marketing and outreach (I know my wheelhouse) and I was amazed at what these kids could do. And now I know the difference between a socket wrench and a hex wrench and the autonomous period and driver-controlled period. I have sat in the bleachers alternating between cheering and biting my nails, praying the autonomous program would do what they programmed it to do.

For my oldest daughter, it was field hockey and theater, two things that had hardly crossed my mind before she jumped headfirst into them in middle school and high school. But now I know all about corners and cherry picking, and I know the difference between stage left and stage right, and what blocking entails both in field hockey and in theater. I have sat in the theater holding my breath, hoping she remembered that one line, and sat in the stands resisting the urge to cover my eyes as a stick came dangerously close to whacking her in the nose.

They say your kids will teach you things, and that's true, but they'll also pull you straight out of your comfort zone and let you wander around in theirs, and that's a part of parenting that we need to celebrate more, just like you did here. Well done, mama.