TODAY was my son’s first day at school. I thought I could handle it, but I confess that when the time came to say goodbye to him, I didn’t have the heart to let him go. I tried to keep a lid on my emotions, but it wasn’t easy. When he looked up at me with his brave little face, trying to fight back tears, it tugged at my heartstrings. And when his school bus disappeared around the corner I found I had a lump in my throat.

By the time I came inside my house, I was in tears. The whole day I couldn’t put him out of my mind. He was the heart and soul of our family and every corner of the house brought to mind his lovable antics and his laughter. Just the thought of some hours without him and all those sleepless nights paled into insignificance. I wished with all my heart that he hadn’t grown up so soon. I tried to keep myself busy with the housework, but my heart wasn’t in it. After a couple of hours had gone by, I took heart from the fact that it would soon be time for him to be back. When I finally heard his school bus coming, my heart leaped for joy.

In my heart of hearts, I know that my little son will soon be a young man, ready to face the world alone, but right now I am still trying to come to terms with having a school-going child!

From the heart: if you do or say something from the heart, you feel it very strongly

Not have the heart to do something: not be insensitive and hard-hearted enough to do something

Keep a lid on something: control the level of something in order to stop it increasing

Fight back tears: try very hard not to cry

Tug at someone’s heartstrings: make someone feel a lot of pity or love

Have a lump in your throat: to find something so moving that one wants to cry

To be in tears: to cry

Put someone or something out of one’s mind: deliberately forget someone or something

The heart and soul of something: the most important part of something

Bring/call something to mind: to remind you of something

Pale into insignificance: not appear at all important when compared to something else

With all your heart: with all your strength, energy or emotion

Someone’s heart isn’t in it: used to say that someone doesn’t really want to do something or does not care about what they are doing

Take heart: to feel encouraged or to have more hope

Someone’s heart leaped: used to say that someone suddenly felt very happy and full oh hope

In your heart of hearts: If you know something in your heart of hearts, you are sure about it although you may not admit it

Come to terms with: start to accept emotionally and to deal with a difficult situation

The phrase ‘a fate worse than death’ is used to refer to an experience that seems like the worst thing that could happen to you. This phrase probably originated in Victorian England at a time when it was believed that a woman who had been raped or dishonoured was better off dead than alive.

Edgar Rice Burroughs uses this phrase in Tarzen of the Apes in 1914: "The ape`85bearing Jane Porter away towards a fate a thousand times worse than death."

It is still in use though now it is also used in a lighter vein, for instance in the sentence: "For Amit the prospect of a visit from his mother-in-law appears to be a fate worse than death."

(Reference: Longman Advanced American Dictionary)