Separation

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.  I believe this to be true as we near the end of my son's first year away from home.  Last year, right around this time, we did a quick visit to a college that had offered him a great financial package (if you have a child in college or preparing, you know how awesome those offers are!).  The fact that it was over 2,000 miles away didn't really weigh on my mind much.

Fast forward to August and suddenly he's getting on a plane and going AWAY.  Not just a car trip to see him away, but a full day of flying/layovers AWAY.  Nothing really prepared me for that.

Many parents send their children off to college, few really send them this far from home.  It takes courage...courage on the part of the parents to trust in how they raised these young people and courage for a student to go and leave everything and everyone behind.

I went out that first week...we shopped for needed dorm room accessories and supplies.  Got him settled in. Did all the parent orientation things.  Watched his awkward attempts to get used to his new surroundings.

Then came the day that it was now all up to him.  Time to say good-bye.  Millions of thoughts racing through my head.  Would he be able to do his laundry?  Would he like his classes? Would he and his roommate get along?  What would he do when he was sick?

Too quickly came the day when I realized that the little boy I loved and raised was suddenly a young adult.  In charge of himself very, very far away from me.  I said a silent prayer that his dad and I had done everything right and left him there and got on a plane back to Ohio.

Fast-forward 7 months later, the young man I talk to on the phone is finding his way.  He loves his classes, he's tried new things and he's slowly making new friends.  There's not a day that goes by that I don't miss him...don't think that's changed.  But, I am proud of the fact that he made this choice.  Love that he went to a school that is as invested in him as he is in it. He is growing not only as a student but as a person.  Realizing that the world is not all black and white but has some areas of gray.

And the best part?  In exactly, 44 days, I'll be in Oregon.  Packing him up for the school year and bringing him home for the summer.  But who's counting?