<p> 
Trying to catch up again… </p>
<p>CheckersMidwest and parent56 - To make the heart on a PC, type Alt and 3 on the right-side number keys. On a Mac, go to the top tool bar, press Edit and then go to Special Characters. Everything I know I learned from the talented people here on CC.</p>
<p>Welcome, psychmomma! Congratulations to you and your son. We’re ‘here’ when you need us. Change is challenging, but you will adjust. (Daughter was 1100 miles away for four years…)</p>
<p>Welcome, TWINMAMA. Double congratulations to you and your daughters. One of our daughter’s best friends from high school attended Hamilton and loved it! Wishing you the best, and know that we are ‘here’ when you need to vent, etc. {{HUGS}}</p>
<p>vballmom - 
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<p>Lafalum84 - {{HUGS}} I vote for the whale watch. We went on one out of Provincetown a few years ago. It was AMAZING! </p>
<p>teenage_cliche - Thanks for sharing. I loved that! Of course, I could read every word. Our daughter still has a full bulletin board in her bedroom. I just went for a stroll down memory lane…</p>
<p>robinsuesanders - I’m hoping your son gets the perfect roommate. Lucky for him my son is not in the pool. He likes video games and sports.</p>
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This is why you’ve been called a p*sser. You are so funny! Wishing you all the best with your employment decisions. Your dear wife will be happy to have you home more. Keep us posted.</p>
<p>CaliforniaDancer - A beautiful new laptop bag for your beautiful new computer… 
! Those North Face backpacks are nice!</p>
<p>mommusic - Nice that your dear son could fix his computer problem! :)</p>
<p>Welcome, ReturntheFava. Congratulations to you and your son!</p>
<p>DougBetsy - I hope your hearing test went well. Unfortunately, for my students, I have superwoman hearing… and eyes in the back of my head. Fingers crossed re: the new job.</p>
<p>kindredspirit - Your daughter’s camp sounds like a lot of fun. And those lucky kids must adore her. Wishing you a wonderful adventure at BB&B. Hope you are at the end of the trip. I hope your husband is home from Starbucks soon. Maybe he ran into someone… that’s the story my husband tells me. And the story about your dad’s smile and your son’s smile - priceless. Pass the Kleenex, please.</p>
<p>jackief - That $2100+ insurance sounds really high! I think our son’s was around $800, which we waived. </p>
<p>12rmh18 - {{HUGS}} Hoping the roommate and registration issues resolve quickly. </p>
<p>PAVenturer - LOL re: the spouse. :)</p>
<p>2education - 
:)</p>
<p>anothercrazymom - Just wow!</p>
<p>jc40 - {{HUGS}}</p>
<p>PAO2008 - {{HUGS}} Stay and enjoy the event on Sunday. I am hoping your day off with your friend brings you lots of smiles and laughter. If there is anyone deserving of a light and bright day, it is you. I could have written the sweet entry about your dad. I adored mine, but lost him when I was 16. I often ask myself, “What would dad do right now?”</p>
<p>{{HUGS}} to you, parent56. I know nothing about Jr. ROTC, but I already like the colonel. Wishing your son a wonderful year. After two years of deferred loans for our daughter, she is paying again (using her med school loans…) and obviously she didn’t talk to her dad… and they have both been making payments. Too funny. When she was surprised that he hadn’t told her, I said, “Welcome to my life.” She will be in debt, but we know that she will be able to repay, and we will be happy to do what we can to help.</p>
<p>FindAPlace - Have a safe and fun trip. :)</p>
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I’m waiting! And waving to you, too. ~~~~</p>
<p>austinmtmom - {{HUGS}} and know that your daughter will have some ‘moments’ when she is away, but she will do well. She is amazing, as are you! Look for And One More Thing Before You Go… by Maria Schriver. I sent it to our daughter, with personal notes added, her sophomore year of college. She loved it.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay - Thanks for the good idea. I have loved reading all your great ‘entries’. Our son called his grandmother before he left for camp. He didn’t tell me, she did. She is 86 and loves to have attention from her grandchildren. When he saw his second grade teacher recently, he hugged her, told her how nice it was to see her, and then bent way over so she could ruffle his hair. She loved doing that when he was a little guy and he remembered. Our daughter is almost always delightful. She is her little brother’s biggest fan and gives him lots of good advice. When I was looking for the book to tell austinmtmom about, I found many shoeboxes in her closet. They’re filled with pictures and cards. I believe she saved every single card and note I sent her while she was in college. I didn’t know that.</p>
<p>About grandparents - My parents were older parents and I lost my only grandmother when I was in college. It was very sad. She was an awesome woman and my fondest memories are riding in her 1964 Buick and telling her to GO FAST! (and she did) and pushing the inner tubes (the big black ones you would get from road construction vehicles) way out in the lake and then riding the waves in with her. I hope someday that my grandchildren adore me as much as we adored her.</p>
<p>Staying !</p>
In the end it was all good as we talked about there being many, many options for all of us after college.</p>
My S was very similar. He was a late bloomer and needed to be force bloomed (just kidding). I can sit back and breathe now that he’s out of HS and going to the college. And more importantly, he’s excited about it. I hope ROTC works out!</p>
And here I was thoughtfully weighing all the pros and cons, reading and re-reading all the posts, and about to give some sage counsel…
