This week I had the pleasure of having my daughter home for a couple of nights. Seven weeks ago she left home to begin studying music at Bangor University (on the north Wales coast). She said she wanted to spend time together cooking. Turned out, I cooked and she chatted. And ate!

It is said, of parenting, that we give our children roots so that one day they’ll be able to fly. It is fair to say that we wondered how she’d survive away from home. We needn’t have worried, as it turns out. She is flying, and it’s such a joy to see her wings taking her to new worlds, meeting new people and discovering more of who she is.

Yes, those roots were solid and strong, and I’ve no doubt they’ll always have a place in her life. There was a certain sense of motherly satisfaction that she enjoyed being home again so much, and even more joy that she was so excited to head back to uni again. She is growing, changing, expanding and discovering. Roots and Wings.