The Day I Cried in the Grocery Store

Yep, I’m one of those…a crier. Always have been. And yesterday, I cried in the grocery store. To be honest, it’s not the first time. I’ve done it twice before. Once back in 1996, my eyes welled up in the Winn-Dixie when my then 2-year old daughter, Zoe pitched a fit. A MAJOR fit. I was a relatively young mother, working full time, and I was frustrated and exhausted. My tears welled up as I left my grocery cart in the middle of the cereal aisle and carried Zoe out to the car to go home so she could sit on the “crying stair”. Pretty sure we had PB&J that night.

The second time was in September 2010. It had been just over two weeks since Brad had died. Brad was my husband for 19 years and the father of my children. All of the family had gone back home after the funeral, and it hit me that I was on my own raising these four kids. The enormity of it all was just too much. My eyes welled up right there in the Kroger.

The third time was yesterday, May 5^th, 2019. I got up early to get some groceries for our family Cinco de Mayo dinner. Back at my neighborhood Kroger. I was walking back to produce, because I forgot limes, and my eyes welled up again. This time because it had really hit me that in 30 days, my daughter Zoe, now 24 years old, was getting married and moving 1,600 miles away to Utah to start her career and her life as a married woman. Between planned trips away and her honeymoon, I have exactly 18 days left with her until she moves and our visits will probably be a couple times a year, rather than every couple of weeks.

I am honestly so happy and excited for her! Zoe and her fiancé have grown up most of their lives in Georgia. This week, Zoe is graduating from physical therapy school and her fiancé is graduating from medical school. They are a power couple and they are ready for a new adventure! And, I can’t blame them. I did the same thing. After college I couldn’t wait to just do something new. After living in a small Nebraska town during high school and attending a small town college in South Dakota, I said yes to a job offer from an international company that would move me to a new city. MBA in hand and my Chevy Citation on the back of a Ryder truck, I moved to Detroit. Yes, that was definitely an adventure! So, I get it!

But, tell that to my heart.

My brain gets it. My heart knows a piece of it will be leaving in a U-Haul with her Nissan Rogue on the back. So, until she actually leaves, we’ll be spending our time with wedding planning, organizing, packing, planning and dreaming about her future. And, my heart will be sad (because it’s selfish), but it will also swell with pride at this amazing woman I have raised, who is strong, smart, independent, adventurous, compassionate and faith-filled. And I will be eternally grateful for cell phones, FaceTime and living near a Delta Airlines hub.