Ancient olive groves surrounded me on both sides of the stony path leading to the Convent of San Damiano in Assisi. One particular tree had something to teach me and I stopped to take it in. What should have been two separate trees was one, as if something ethereal held it together. Though fractured, the tree was whole.

I understand this movement of time and the reasons my children must embrace every moment away from us. I understand it, because I used to be that 20-year-old who longed to leave home again, to “adult” as they say. In 1992, I knew my parents mourned my leaving for college. I recognized and felt the tension of their desire that I stay and my strong desire to leave. And I knew that I must leave if I ever wanted to become a whole person. Wholeness. It makes me think of Jesus’ mother, Mary.