New Beginnings

My daughter moved out over the Christmas holiday. She has a nice boyfriend and I wish her well, but I worry. She is a diabetic and needs special care and I hope he can handle it. Or maybe I just hope he will take care of her up to my standards. She mentioned that she would miss some of the amenities that I have. She likes to cook as much as I do, so going to a place where there is no Kitchenaid stand mixer, no vegetable steamer, and no deep fryer will be an adjustment. For Christmas, I did get her a Fry Daddy so she didn't have to miss all three. I would have got her the steamer but she didn't mention that until the day before Christmas, and I was through with that madness by then. As she moved her stuff into his apartment, he had a nice surprise for her. He bought her a Kitchenaid mixer. That was quite a wonderful (and expensive) gift, especially one week after Christmas! So now most of her stuff is gone and as I rummage through her room, I think of all the years gone by. I move from excitement for her new beginning and my new beginning as well. I think of how fun it will be to turn her room into a home office. It's like a blank canvas where I can paint and decorate any way I want. But the excitement turns to loss when I think of her not being here. Funny thing is when she's around, she is a chatterbox and sometimes I wish she would just stop talking for a few minutes. And now I find the quiet hard to take.