When I think back to this day, I think of Alan Jackson's famous lyrics, "the day the world stopped turning that September day," but in this case it was the day the world stopped turning that July day. I realize that's a very DRAMATIC statement. I thought I was prepared for this day. From the moment, they were born, more experienced, wiser parents made statement such as...
Just wait until you have three kids walking. (It was fun!)
Just wait until you have to potty-train three kids all at once. (Now, this was a challenge, but I survived).
Just wait until you have three of them driving all at once. (This had it's stressful moments, but we survived).
Just wait until they all leave home at once. (In my head, I knew it would be hard. However knowing that they would all leave at once just seemed natural. I had always experienced everything at once. I would survive).
I kept busy all summer making sure each the kids had all the things they needed for their dorms. Maybe this helped me to live in denial. Delaney had to move in the last weekend of July. We loaded the vehicles and pulled out of the driveway. I remember thinking things would never be the same but I had no idea what that truly meant. Before we knew it, we had her all moved in and it was time to say goodbye. I watched her hug her best friend and dad goodbye and by this time I am full on sobbing. Rick had no idea what to do with me so he offered to get me Starbucks. I did manage to stop crying but the pit of emptiness in my stomach was vast. That evening, I took a long bath and secretly drank a glass of wine just to numb the hurt. I thought surely things would be better in the morning but that gut wrenching feeling lingered for days. The only thing I could compare it to was the death of my parents. Luckily, I still had the boys at home for few more weeks and it was the start of another school year so I couldn't just curl up in a ball in misery. Other parents also shared that what I was feeling was normal but I was thinking why didn't anyone warn me it would be this bad but I guess they did--and I just could not comprehend
Looking back, we had always thought the kids would go off to school in the same place--probably OSU. We understood their desire to find colleges that fit each of their needs and maybe in the end, God was taking care of me. If they had all attended the same college, I would have had to drop off all three of them on the same day. I'm not sure my heart would have survived.
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| last goodbye with the pups |
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| So thankful Emily came with us on this day |
