![\"boy](\"https:\/\/lwm-a2.azureedge.net\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Mehr-Lee-saying-goodbye-900x1200.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cI\u2019m a mess in this moment, you guys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re probably looking at this picture and just seeing a kid walking out the door for his first day of sophomore year\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No big deal, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you know what I see?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I see my little boy with his Spiderman backpack on his first day of kindergarten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I see my baby on the first day he was placed in my trembling arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also see what you see, but with everything in between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every year, every milestone, wrapped up in this image of an almost-man, walking out my front door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know the drill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t blink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take in every moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, sophomore year is not his first day of high school. Not his last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s no huge milestone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just a stepping stone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A step away from the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The past when I held him in my arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A step closer to the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The future when I have to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right here is no huge moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, for me, it\u2019s a moment of unblinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A moment that it\u2019s all sinking in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My baby boy is growing into a man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While milestones launch us, it\u2019s the stepping stones, the little in-betweens, that give us a moment to pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So here I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pausing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s so much to look forward to, and so much to look back upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the in-betweens that get us from here to there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are tears necessary for this moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019m allowing them to fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because we shouldn\u2019t wait for the big things to happen to allow ourselves to feel the enormity of it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n