the hard part

I met my neice's sweet new baby Ella Mae last night.  She is one week old, and just the most beautiful and perfect little princess that I have ever seen. I knew coming to California that I would see her, and I was so excited to finally meet her. I knew it would be hard. I held her and snuggled her and loved every minute of her sweet newborn-ness. She was so tiny and fresh from heaven, holding her brought back all of the emotions that I felt holding little Miles the day he was born. No, holding her wasn't hard, it was so natural and felt so right. I could have held her and loved on her for days.  That wasn't the hard part. The hard part came when it was time to go and I had to give her back. And my arms were empty again. The hard part was leaving her in her mother's arms and looking back, longing and thinking that's how it should be.