I wouldn’t have her
not go.
Not for a moment.
There is nothing for her
here in this small, choking town
that thinks and knows of nothing beyond itself.
That time-baked city, Cezanne-tinted,
and all its faces, voices, promises
are hers, hard-earned and long awaited.
And in this quiet morning
I wrap her leaving round me;
feel its weight, and breathe.
After a protracted and stressful process, our daughter has finally been granted her student visa and can head off on Sunday to Aix-en-Provence for her third year of undergrad study, which she’s doing at Aix-Marseille University (the largest in France, with around 80,000 students). We’ll miss her terribly, of course; but I’m certain it’ll be a transformative experience for her, and I’m beyond delighted she’s taking this amazing opportunity. Bon voyage, ma chère fille.
Can feel the love you have for her in these lines…and life move forward.
Ah, thank you as always, my friend. What’s strange is that she’s already been living away from home for two years at university in York; plus we’ve been going to France since before she was born, so my head tell me this really shouldn’t be a big deal! But the heart doesn’t work that way. does it? And when it comes to her, my heart usually wins. N.
Beautifully written Nick, and very moving. Perfectly captures that parental feeling … !
Thank you so much, John. She’s our one-and-only and has ADD, so it’s a big deal for all of us. But she has a couple of friends from York going too; in fact, one’s already there and has kindly agreed to meet her at the airport in Marseille on Sunday, so she’s got support. And of course FaceTime means she’s not as ‘gone’ as we were when we flew the nest all those years ago! Trust you’re keeping well; we really must meet up one of these days! N.
She has obviously done wonders if she has to contend with ADD – you must be immensely proud of her! We have two daughters in New Zealand so I understand about separation, although as you say, FaceTime etc really do close the gap. We are in touch with our Kiwi families daily – although I don’t suppose a student daughter wants that frequency of parental contact 😊And, yes, one day we will manage to meet up!