Things were pretty good around our house until about a day before, at which time everyone suddenly seemed hit with a bad case of "what have we gotten ourselves into!?!" This day is something we've planned for the past 19 years. This is a priesthood responsibility, for young men to go and spend two years serving the Lord. As a small child we teach them songs that say "I hope they call me on a mission, when I have grown a foot or two..." We save money for missions, we talk of missions often. But, like many things, no matter how well you've planned and prepared, when you get right down to it, the butterflies set in.
But, butterflies or not, the day came, and we said good-bye to Bradley for two years. And even though I feel 100% completely sure that we will all be blessed by his service; that he will grow and become more of a man than he ever could be otherwise; that this is EXACTLY what he should be doing right now and EXACTLY what I want him to be doing right now---when he turned and walked away I felt as if someone were taking a piece of my heart away. So, there, on the sidewalk outside the MTC, even though it was overflowing with joy for my son's choice to serve a mission, my heart also felt just a little empty...see?
