In honor or all the back to school families, I give you my sweet boy.
The one who made our nest empty, who flew the coop and took up residence in another state!
Still hard. Still bitter/sweet. Still, so right.
This was one year ago almost to the day....
Here I sit on the eve of taking our last child to that much anticipated, school of higher education...college. I have been blinking back tears for some time now, but now, no matter how fast I blink, the tears are flooding my eyes and rolling down my face. I can no longer deny this day away.
How am I here again already?
Having done this twice before, I know what to expect. I know how to do this.
I am all in. I cried tears of joy and sadness the last two times I have done this.
And yet, I still ache.
Just 24 hours until we pull away from our driveway and make the long drive North and here I am questioning if I taught him all he needs to know. He left childhood behind and entered manhood all too quickly. That seems to happen to the last child faster, watching and learning from those who went before him.
Can he stand shoulder to shoulder with other men?
Will he remember all the values we tried to instill?
Who will remind him to actually turn in his homework he worked so hard to complete?
What if he doesn't call me every night? Well, not every night....perhaps once a week?...once a month?....who am I kidding! Every night! At least for the first week or two...or three.
Ok, I'll take what I get.
Packed and loaded up with everything a young collegiate could ever need.
He graduated from wanting the little fundraiser mini fridge that every kid wanted to earn from magazine sales to the real, ice cold mini fridge to hold left over pizza and soda.
Wait, leftovers?....yeah, strike that last sentence.
There is never left over pizza!
Nothing says college life like a mini fridge!
And, we're off!
My favorite way to ride, the sun warming my legs and blue skies ahead.
Look fast if you want to see the day go by.
And, then just like that, it is time for our family kissy face photo right before we leave.
Good-bye...not too fond of that greeting right about now. The only good bye that I like is a good buy. Much different. Where is the "good" in good-bye? Perhaps we should start our own new phrase like bad-bye or mediocre-bye or french fry...hey, it rhymed and, who doesn't love french fries anyway!
Good-bye? OK. He is super good after all.
Tears commence at this point. Thanksgiving is only 60 days away!
Here is our little middle as she was embarking on her collegiate years. Seems like it was just yesterday!
Hummingbirds are fascinating little creatures. They flit about, humming their tiny wings at an exhausting speed. We have several that frequent our yard that we love to watch, silently as to not startle them away. I'm certain that we had a family of them living in the Clematis that has overtaken our pergola, though we've never found a nest.
The hummingbird though that is my favorite one to hear is not a bird of the air, it is however a precious life that resides just down the hall from me. This hummingbird of sorts makes the most precious sounds far beyond the sounds hummingbirds make.
In the quiet of the night, right before we would allow ourselves to fall into the blissful quiet of sleep, we would listen for a quiet, sweet sound from down the hall. A very soft melody, hummed just under her breath. Unrecognizable to most and so faint it could be easily ignored. This sound signified that all was well in our world.
Unaware of her self soothing methods used to put herself to sleep, we would lie in bed and listen.... many years we relished in the serene, soft melody that would float down the hall. Much like a wisp of smoke whisked away by the wind. We sometimes would miss this sound in the loud clamor of life, begging for our attention if we didn't focus on hearing it.
Our little middle has grown and her door is now closed at night, however, I miss hearing the soothing sound to signify that we can close out another day. Another reminder that life is short...kids become adults quickly. So many little treasures are hidden in our children, just waiting to be discovered. Gifts that lie unopened perhaps because when we finally hit our pillow at night we have other things we are focused on. Are the doors locked?... The dog in?...Homework by the front door?...and on and on it goes.
Embracing the next big step in life, she departed for her new home, on a college campus. I dreamed that her new roommate she was about to meet would also enjoy this hummingbird as much as we have. I prayed that they together would focus on hearing the important things in life. To filter out the clamor that wants to steal our attention, and focus on what God has for them to discover in this new adventure.
Same song, second verse...
No college drop off is complete without our family kissy face photo!
