How can you make the heart understand what the head already knows? Perhaps it has always known; it's just difficult to accept that the moment has arrived, that the time is now.

Second quarter of 2025, I receive a visit from my son who lives outside the city.  A visit awaited for a year and a half.  I prepared things at home to receive him, I prepared myself psychologically for that time. I knew he was coming with a friend, that I was coming to show him the city. That the time I would have with him at home, to share, was limited, "I knew it," yet it seems my heart hadn't quite grasped it.

I went to meet him at the airport; my heart was racing with excitement. He came out of the airport gate and I hugged him; I can't describe the joy I felt at that moment. His trip went exactly as I had hoped.  But what I didn't expect was the feeling that would remain in my heart. It was a mixture of happiness and loss.  It was like experiencing an internal grief, as if the young, adolescent son no longer existed.  That man, who thank God is alive, no longer needs his mother as he once did.

During his childhood and adolescence, I dedicated myself to teaching him to be independent, because I know that I will not be eternal.  One day she had to leave the nest and fly, her own flight.  But in this process, I forgot to teach my heart that this was going to happen sooner or later. That it was going to materialize someday.  I write these words for all those mothers who are going through this or who will have to go through it someday. Also for those who have already gone through it and may identify in some way with the words I'm putting down in this article.

Today we need to trust that we did a good job.  What we sowed in their young hearts during the years we had the opportunity will now bear the expected fruit. They will make mistakes, they will fall, that's for sure. But it's all part of growth, of life. Today we are meant to be spectators, but not passive ; we are meant to pray, to kneel for them.  I trust that God, in my case, because of my beliefs, has it in the palm of his hand, as he once told me.  I have to trust that God has good plans for my son, his son.

I saw him leave again at the airport a week later.  Something had changed within me. Something had broken. But at the same time, something was beginning to be born inside me. Something different was in my heart, a new stage of acceptance and embracing the changes I know will come this season. Now I've accepted that he's finally flown the nest, and most importantly, my heart accepts that I now play a different role in his life. I'm his mom , and he'll always come back to us, to me, and fill my heart as he did when he was little, only now he's a grown, independent, and accomplished man.

In this process, don't forget to speak to your heart, to teach it to prepare for this moment. Although I believe no one is ever truly prepared, at least let it not take us by surprise. Let's look within ourselves for the strength to be a mother, but also to be independent women, useful to society and to ourselves. Our identity is not only to be mothers, but also to be educators and mentors of men and women who add value to their own lives, who are capable of falling and getting back up as many times as necessary. May they learn to cry, but also to wipe away their tears and move on. That giving up is not an option while they are alive. That they know where to go if they have any problems. That they can return home whenever they need to. That we continue to hear their mother's voice , even if it's just on the phone, but that the connection between mother and children always remains intact.

Today, to all those who have a void in their hearts and at their dinner table, I can only say: today it's up to you whether you begin a new chapter in your life or remain stuck in the past.  That chapter is over, it's time to write a new one, and who knows, maybe in this chapter you'll find a new version of yourselves that is much stronger and more appealing. 

A big hug to your hearts and to mine…a new stage begins where the Má will be more spaced out but I know it has the same strength as before and the same love as always.

Rita Ambrosy-Valenzuela