<p>Fight On, Trojans!</p>
<p>Good luck all!!!</p>
<p>hey timedad and all - how did move in go? We went to Parkside and it was so smooth (helped it was my second there, so no stress). Lots of giggles, room is great, suitemates are perfect. Left a kid there that is so appreciative and happy to be attending USC and that made it easy to let go. Sad to leave him but definitely left with a happy heart and warm feeling 
No doubt we made the right choice, now just have to pay for it. Hope you managed to enjoy yourself in all the madness of finding your way around, (so much walking!) getting books and all the things you forgot! Isn’t the bookstore pretty amazing?! I didn’t realize they sold mattress toppers, maybe that is in last couple years. Don’t really have to go to Bed Bath Beyond, most of it is in the bookstore!</p>
<p>Love to hear how it went for you all! - the good bad and ugly.</p>
<p>Hi CADREAMIN, I was unable to go this time because of aforementioned work conflict, but plan to visit in the fall, perhaps for parent’s weekend.</p>
<p>It turns out my wife, who I thought would still be out of the country, was home, and able to fly down with him. This worked out well as she got in touch with her aunt and uncle in Torrance, who were delighted to learn that our son was going to USC and insisted she and my son use their home for a staging location. They are now retired and a very sweet couple who had last seen our son when he was 2 (the only time I had ever met them, in fact) and were thrilled to meet him all grown up. They insisted on hosting my wife and son and helping with the SoCal logistics, becoming emergency contacts, etc. They spent Tuesday showing my wife and son around the sights and beaches in their area (including the obligatory In-N-Out visit, which my son had been looking forward to as much as college, I think). So now, my son has local SoCal family who are still eagerly reaching out to him, which is great. </p>
<p>My wife helped my son move into Marks Tower on move-in day morning. Of course, they got stuck in traffic on the way and had to take a detour or two, leaving them with their bearings off when they approached from a different direction than planned, and they finally got parked and jumped headfirst into the confusion with many equally confused compatriots, but they got it done. She texted me some photos of the orange cart melee, so I got to witness some of the fun from afar. Our son has scarcely been heard from since move-in other than to send many thanks, say that he really “lucked out” with the people on his floor, that college life is “excellent” (we’ll forget for the moment that the actual education stuff has not yet begun), and that he has had very little time to sleep. My wife did drop a couple of second round items off for him on Friday before flying back up and noted he looked tired and very happy during her all-too-brief visit before he had to dash off to another event with his floormates. </p>
<p>Back at home, it’s funny the stuff that touches your heart when your child moves out: the old shoes he left in their normal spot the porch, the unmade bed he had sprung from at 4 AM on his departure day, food in the fridge left over from goodbye outings with various friend groups in his waning days at home, the library book on his headboard left open to the last page he had had time to read. And that first odd visit to the grocery store when you realize that your shopping needs have just become that much less. </p>
<p>Sure, he will be home again many times, but it will always be for a finite window of time with the inevitable departure probably looming in my mind even before his plane lands. Of course, the calendar has marked his departure date for months now, but next time, I’ll truly know what it means.</p>
<p>Sorry for the off-topic meanderings, it just slipped out of the back of my mind. Thanks for sharing your experiences; I will definitely check out that bookstore when I am down there!</p>
<p>Your post brought tears to my eyes as did hearing the Phillip Phillips song “Home” on the radio - which played ad nauseum through the Olympics, but for some reason hit me on the long drive by myself up I-5 after leaving USC. (Wow they really need to paint some new lines and add some dots on that interstate.) Totally get your shopping story, I have no idea how to make dinner for so few, and one of them being a vegan. (Independent thinking daughter.) After seeing many “both mom and dads” in the parking garage or both parents walking into the dorm, it is actually nice to know my husband isn’t the only one that missed this event cause of quarter end, and being a finance guy. Somebody has to work and pay for all this! (Sorry dear.) Wasn’t your wife tired? It is a lot of hoofing around campus getting this all done! Great you have “3am family” for your son, and hoping he never needs them!</p>
<p>I know it was a lot more than UCLA, but the feeling I brought back with me after leaving him there seems totally worth the difference. A fabulous campus, a comfortable room, not overcrowded with three, a suitable place to get his work done, not having to flee the dorm we are spending lots of $ on, and the suitemates, one after another that seem like the greatest guys. Small enough to fit in and not so big that you get lost, or struggle to be heard. The campus has a mature feeling to it, it is so cosmopolitan. They learn how to deal with “a neighborhood” so when they take that first business trip solo, they are experienced and safer, because they have learned a little bit about the jungle of city life.</p>
<p>I thought of you when I sat at Yardhouse at LA Live, wondering if you made it out. There happened to be a Taylor Swift concert at Staples Center, the plaza was full of pre-teen girls with their moms and friends, all in red (apparently the title of her last album, a little girl informed me in the restroom). Regardless of who, LA Live was buzzing like Times Square and so much fun. Hope you get there sometime and it’s hoppin’.</p>
<p>Thank goodness for facetime and skype, look forward to checking in with ours for the first time since I left. While communication has been virtually nill because he is apparently so busy, when I texted how it was going, I got back a “really well.” Not a fine or a good, but, really well. Not his typical teen talk. I would say that means things are going really really good, even great. That certainly brings a smile on the inside. At times this summer I wondered if it was right, spending all that money for him to be there. Now I can’t imagine him being anywhere else, and so happy that I am not worrying about him being happy or having what he needs be it academically, socially, whatever. I also remember there are people that would give the shirt off their back to get their kids to a great school. I will need to remember that when we downsize (and I mean way down) for retirement many years from now. :)</p>