It is never easy for any parent to let go off their child. For Christian singer Kirk Franklin's wife Tammy, the day their daughter went off to college was both painful and enlightening.
In the singer's Patheos blog, his wife Tammy writes that she has been preparing for her departure as early as two years ago. She wept endlessly at the thought of her daughter moving out of their house, but at the same time, Tammy cannot help but laugh and rejoice.
"Remembering the walk my husband and I took together that evening when we returned from dropping Kennedy off. I talked to him about my fears. It was an intimate, very honest talk of the fear that my role was changing as I geared up for our last child at home and what the next four years would bring now that our son was entering high school. My primary role — and I believe calling — has been wife and mother," she says.
She's pretty good at being a wife, but she shines even more as a mother. This is why Tammy's heart broke at the thought that her life's role will completely change now that their daughter is gone.
"As we talked, I looked into my husband's eyes and realised he was my friend and that I wasn't on this journey alone. Suddenly, I got reassurance that we have put in the work that has sustained us as we prepared to empty our nest over the next four years. I was so relieved!" she writes. "We placed our marriage above anything and – yes – we love our kids, but we were each other's number one priority."
All of a sudden, Tammy began to appreciate all those times she and her husband got counselling, committed to have date nights, as well as strove to have a good and open communication. "It all helped us to prepare for this very moment.... preparing us for a life together beyond our children," she says.
Yes, Tammy notes that it would be difficult to change her role as a mother, but she is comforted by the fact that she will have a solid partner to share all her ups and downs in life. "It won't be a journey alone...it will be one with my best friend by my side rooting me on," she says.
