Wherever you go . . .

One summer day, my daughter and her friends were riding their bicycles up and down the block in front of our house.  The girls stopped in our driveway and walked up to the front door speaking among themselves in a conspiratorial way.  Slowly she opened the door as her friends stood just outside on the front porch.  "Mom?" she said.  Wondering what was coming next, I looked down at my little girl and took a deep breath.  "The girls want to ride around the block.  Can I go with them?  Their moms said it was okay!"  I looked into her face and could see how important this was to her.  But at the same time, the thought of her being outside of my view, without another trusted adult to make sure she was safe, was terrifying for me.  It would only be a matter of ten minutes or so, but they would be very long minutes for me.  Finally, I told her, "You can go, but I want you to remember something.  Wherever you go, you take my heart with you.  If you are hurt and you get broken, my heart gets broken too.  So promise me you will be careful and take good care of my heart."  She smiled and hugged me, told me she loved me, and went off with her friends.  My eyes did not leave the front window until she came back in sight once again! But that, of course, was just the beginning.  She has been to Europe and the Amazon without me now, but still she knows that wherever she goes . . . she takes my heart with her.