Letting Go

Last night I hugged my daughters goodbye at Cape Town International Airport. Erin's 19 and Chaeli's 18 and they're off to Paris for a week where Chaeli will be doing a keynote address at the UNESCO conference on Wednesday. This is the first time that I won't be travelling with Chaeli and she's off to have fun with her sister, while doing her work as a disability activist and Children's Peace Prize recipient. I thought I'd cry, but I didn't ...

Instead Erin was the weepy one: not sad to be leaving mama but tearful to leave her boyf, Warren, for a week. Chaeli was all smiles and excitement. I also think besides missing Warren before leaving, Erin suddenly fully realised the responsibility she was claiming in heading this Mycroft mission to Paris, and for a moment it was overwhelming.

These sisters are going to have an amazing adventure and come back with memories that they will share forever. What a gift to each other of their time and their care and their love and laughter. So often Chaeli is in the limelight as the activist and the speaker, but I am SO incredibily proud of my beautiful, amazingly strong firstborn Erin. Her support will be unseen (as it often has been in the past) and people will swarm around Chaeli - which is good and right - she has important work to do whilst having fun at the same time.

But Erin has an equally important task this week (this mom thinks that maybe it's more important?) as Chaeli cannot shine without her, and will not be able to accept her responsibility as a voice for the voiceless without Erin supporting her daily physical needs. And then the sisters will also step in to support one another emotionally.

It's great to know that THEY know they have each other's back and that because they love each other they're prepared to go that extra mile (or thousand) for each other. At about 8:30pm I was back home in my bathroom when I imagined that I heard their jet in the sky. I rushed onto the verandah and looked towards the airport - having often seen the lights of planes coming in to land and taking off from the airport 20km away. And there it was: flight BA058 winking at me as it climbed the night sky, blinking its farewell, with my gorgeous girls on board - heading for Europe.

And then I cried.