I was having a bit of a maudlin day when I saw a bunch of young children playing in the schoolyard where my son goes to school. In the past two years he has been going to this school, I always slowed down and looked for him if I was driving by, but I never spotted him.

But today, I saw him. He was surrounded by girls and giggling. I rolled down my window and shouted for him. He was too busy laughing to hear me. Then his friends started pointing at me and shouting, "Hi Miss Jae!" and "Hi ___'s Mom!" And then his friends nudged him and said, "Your mom's here!"

Finally, he looked at me and excitedly jumped up and down waving and shouting, "Mommy! Mommy!" It was one of the happiest moments of my life. I'm sure that in a few years, he'll be embarrassed if I do the same thing...so...I'll enjoy it for now.

[These are memories from 11 years ago. In a few months, my child will head off to college. Those days were long, but the years went by so, so quickly. If I could do it all over again, I would.]