And then there were eight. There is something about being a parent that seems to just pull at your heart when you children move away. You know intellectually that you have been raising them to be successful, to be independent, to have great lives of their own, but when it happens it is still hard. The young man who marries and finds that his mother feels conflicted whenever he comes over...or more accurately leaves...sometimes wonders what the issue is. It is hard for parents, especially those who are close to their children to let go, though, we rarely want to have to hold on.

My son married a lovely young woman who happens to be French. We love her, she is absolutely amazing. But, that does not explain away the feeling of losing our son. It is hard even when your child moves out and lives just a few miles away or even a few hours away. But thousands of miles separated by huge bodies of water and nine hours in the air is often hard to take...we miss them both so much. But the good news is that they came to visit...arrived yesterday as a matter of fact. And last night was magical.

Magical not just because our granddaughter took over the house and ran off with our hearts. For that matter the magic did not come from having just our son and daughter in law in the house to talk to and hug. The magic came in being a family.

Our daughter lives just a few short minutes away. That was not always so, but after a move on our part last year we are now three minutes away and not three hours in the airplane away. In fact, we get to see our grandson at least once every week if not more, and it is, more often than not, more. He knows this house, thinks of it as his own or at least an extension of his own. He knows my chair and in the evening after work will sit next to me and we will talk about our days...did I mention that he is two and a half...his day is always more exciting than mine. They, too, came over last night for dinner.

And now to the magic. Two children born just months apart, who have not seen each other since they were just one, other than electronic images in Facetime or Skype, hugged each other and played like long lost friends. They watched each other eat and copied what and when they took bites...they shared blocks, books, and even spatulas while watching Grandma cook chicken and dumplings. One was trying to teach the other how to sneak bites of Grandma's banana bread while no one was looking. To be sure there was also the obligatory joint bath, a bubble bath in Nana and Didi's big bath tub, photos all around.

As much magic as there was in that, it was only a fraction of the magic in the evening. For parents it is always hard to see their children having difficulties communicating. There is no doubt about the love between them, but they sometimes seem to speak a different language figuratively and miss each others' intent. Last night was PURE MAGIC. I was smiling all evening watching my son and daughter talking and laughing. The two moms were sharing stories...they are both expecting again...and talking about how the others' child has grown. There was laughter in the house. The table was full and hearts were gladdened.

My son and his family had not been to this house so I was sharing some memorabilia and photos that we found in the move with him down in the basement when my daughter came down. They laughed at all the photos that mom had put on the wall. They shared memories of the times represented in the photos. There were hugs and laughter and a father's heart was singing. The nephew climbed up his uncle and the niece teased her aunt. Two generations of children were playing together and the old folks were smiling from ear to ear. It was PURE MAGIC.

We had always sort of hoped to see our children grow up and come over for Sunday dinner...I sometimes think I must be part Italian when it comes to this. But alas time, space and personalities have not made that a reality . But last night we got our Italian on and it was a great time to see everyone at ease, joking, laughing, sharing, playing, and loving each others' company. My heart was singing.

I am still smiling from ear to ear...thanks.