Leaving Home (Jodie Picoult)

The day Maddie left for uni is the saddest day of my life to date. I know there will be sadder days to come but this one was a killer.

For more than 17 years she had been my (almost) constant companion. Her little hand in mine is a feeling I will never forget.

Then suddenly she was 17, finishing school, driving and going off to uni - only two hours away; but that didn't lessen the chasm in between.

That week people whose children had left seemed to be everywhere - everyone was commiserating and checking I was okay. Childhood friends reiterated their stories on Facebook; my cousin, David, told me after dropping his daughter at uni he had cried all the way home; and even Mum and Dad worried about how I was fairing. This was most surprising of all as I had always thought that us kids leaving home had been a huge relief - I know they missed us but it had never occurred to me they had been sad about it. Even my brother, who most famously announced to his kids when they were younger that the 'first one to leave home could have a free suitcase' rang to see how things were going!

And then on Kindle appeared Jodie Picoult's short pieces - Leaving Home. It is a letter she wrote to her son when he left for college many miles away. It was a letter I could have written myself.

The whole point of parenting, and parenting well, is getting your child to the point where they can forge their own lives. It's a tough gig but there isn't a more rewarding one. Leaving Home is a must read for all parents - and probably one that should be read while your child is still holding your hand.