Single Living With a Grown-Up Daughter

Some days you wake up and have a completely normal morning, a completely normal afternoon and then two minutes into evening, you realize that a milestone has landed smack in the middle of your life.

A moment when you ask yourself: "what just happened here?!"

This milestone happened when my daughter told me she was going to be a bridesmaid in her friend’s wedding.

This may sound like a normal course of events, but let me explain.

Eight years ago when my husband first left, I remember thinking that my life was consigned to be a stagnant thing. I would exist here—taking care of these children—by myself, forever.

Now, we all know that time doesn’t stand still. People change and heal and pretty soon you look around and realize life is a great and wonderful thing. You praise God for your friends and your family, your job and your home but still, it isn’t the life you expected to have.

Today, I have a great group of single Catholic women friends and this news from my daughter—that her friend had asked her to be a bridesmaid—put my life in a whole new light.

On the one hand, I myself am single. My group of friends and I pray that God will be clear about the path He wants us to take.

On the other hand, I’m a mother of a grown-up daughter who has the same prayers for herself and her own friends. It’s an interesting place to meet in the middle.

I am so proud of the wonderful woman my daughter is becoming each and every day. I realize how excited and happy I am for my daughter and her friends.

The engaged couple are two beautiful 20-somethings that are living the faith daily. I feel so blessed that my daughter has this example in her own friends—an example that I never had.

I remember the excitement of being a bridesmaid and the honor that goes along with it. Talk of wedding dresses, cakes, music and Mass has brought a new level of festivity into our lives. Nothing will ever replace the magic of the first wedding my daughter will participate in.

Though I hope that God will indeed make it clear to me what he wants for my life, I know that I am happy to step aside and let this moment shine for my daughter and her friends who are just beginning the road that I’m already more than halfway down.

Have milestones like these happened in your life? How have you walked this interesting path with your grown children?