The Hardest Part of Love

Oh, this son of mine I love so well, and oh the toll it takes
 I would build a bridge of dreams for him and patch it where it breaks
 But the one thing he must treasure is to make his own mistakes
 Oh...
 He is bound for lands I've traveled, I remember them so clear
 I could tell him what to watch for, I could warn him what to fear
 I could shout until I'm breathless and he'd still refuse to hear
 Oh...
 But you cannot close the acorn once the oak begins to grow
 And you cannot close your heart to what it feels and needs to know
 That the hardest part of love
 Is the letting go
 As a child I found a sparrow that had fallen from its nest
 And I nursed it back to health till it was stronger than the rest
 But when I tried to hold it, then it pecked and scratched my chest
 Till I let it go
 And I watched it fly away from me with its bright and selfish song
 And a part of me was cursing I had helped it go so strong
 And I feared it might go hungry, and I feared it might go wrong
 Oh...
 But you cannot close the acorn once the oak begins to grow
 And you cannot close your heart to what it feels and needs to know
 That the hardest part of love
 Is the letting go
 And it's only in Eden grows a rose without a thorn
 And your children start to leave you on the day that they are born
 They will leave you there to cheer for
 them, they will leave you there to mourn
 Ever so...
 Like an ark on uncharted seas their lives will be tossed
 And the deeper is your love for them, the crueler is the cost
 And just when they start to find themselves
 Is when you fear they're lost
 Oh...
 But you cannot close the acorn once the oak begins to grow
 And you cannot close your heart to what it fears and needs to know
 That the hardest part of love
 And the rarest part of love
 And the truest part of love
 Is letting go