First Day in College

It's difficult for a mother to say good-bye to her firstborn child when he's gone off to college, even if that college is just a few minutes away from home.  And one can't blame her; it's the beginning of the end of her children's sojourn at home, the beginning of the migration to the Promised Land of adulthood, the first, most subtle hint of the forthcoming empty nest.

It's her last chance to fuss over his linens, help him arrange his clothes in the dresser, make sure he has towels and washcloths and toothpaste and all those other things that busy children never think about (because their mothers are thinking about them all the time in the back of their organizing-the-world minds).

Dad just stands over in the corner and watches, eager to get out of the way and let the boy be on his own, handle his own affairs, stand on his own two feet, take on the world with all the strength and wisdom and knowledge that has been so graciously provided (at no extra charge) for the last eighteen years.

He'll be all right.  It could be the beginning of a wonderful experience which flowers into a satisfying career and a full and vibrant life.

Or it could be the beginning of a lesson that will need to be learned the hard way, and will lead to further complications along the windy path of Life.

We don't have the vision to know the future at this point.  But we know that his time has come, and we've gotten him as far as we can, and the rest is up to him.  As the old song goes, "Life is what you make it", and now he has the chance to make it shine.

God bless you, Adam!  We love you.