Letting go

I have just expressed the last breast milk for Samuel.  I feel the mix of pride and heartache that I now know is exclusive to mothers letting go of their children.  I felt it when he was born and his umbilical cord was cut, and I'm feeling it now for the second time, since once again he is no longer dependent on my body for survival.  I am sure I will feel it again and again throughout his life as he makes leaps toward independence, each one seeming to arrive too quickly and each one bigger than the last.  We're only just getting started.