dual personalities

Good-by is a prayer, a ringing cry. ‘You must not go – I cannot bear to have you go! But you shall not go alone, unwatched. God will be with you. God’s hand will cover you’ and even – underneath, hidden, but it is there, incorrigible – ‘I will be with you; I will watch you – always.’ It is a mother’s good-by.

–Anne Morrow Lindbergh, North to the Orient

Well, I got up at 4:30 this morning, after a fitful night’s sleep, to drive daughter #1 to the airport. I have a long day ahead of me at the salt mine, but c’est la vie, n’est-ce pas?

We managed to fit in every favorite hometown thing she wanted to do. Yes, we went to the zoo.

We went to Grant’s Farm,

the Missouri Botanical Garden,

and squeezed in some estate-saling and outlet mall shopping.

We also ate out four times. We even went to church!

And the Cardinals won the National League pennant for the 19th time.

The Missouri Botanical Garden displays its Cardinal pride.

I am not too sad that daughter #1 has jetted back to her glamorous life in NYC, because I am going to visit her there in a few weeks for a quick weekend. Then daughter #2 will be home for Thanksgiving. In between my life will settle back into its old routine.

Thank goodness! I couldn’t keep up this pace for too much longer!