<p>Nice, Olymom.</p>
<p>"Umm, folks, I know you are upset. I know you are here for words of comfort and to be with like minded people – but </p>
<p>You aren’t sending the kid to war. "</p>
<p>Our DD is leaving for a gap year program in Israel. Like the anxiety of sending her far away for so long, isn’t enough. </p>
<p>State department says direct talks will begin between Israel and the Pals will start (in DC, a day after DD arrives in Israel, ironically enough). The nice folks at Hamas and Hezbollah have been known to try to derail talks with rockets. Fortunately DD will be in Jerusalem, relatively distant from the Gaza and Lebanon borders.</p>
<p>Our one-and-only graduated from university in May.</p>
<p>All I can say is that Freshman year WAS tough, though it did get better as the year went along. By the time he studied abroad Junior year that hole in my heart had scabbed over pretty well. He was away each summer for internships.</p>
<p>It does hurt. You will be OK. Try to remember that this is more about them than about us.</p>
<p>We’ll start another thread about how it feels when they leave “for good” for their jobs after college.</p>
<p>cbug - congratulations! your son is off to a bright future with a foundation of support and love. But, your work is not done! so many visits, texts, happy stories, and requests for advice and/or need for consolation when things go less than well are all in your future. you must be so proud and excited. what a wonderful time in life for him. enjoy your “bonus” time with your younger kid(s), your OWN activities, your spouse, your friends, etc. This 2011 HS parent sends you hugs (as she contemplates her own d’s lengthy application “to do” list)!</p>
<p>I am a single mom of an only child. Got back yesterday to a very empty house (except for the dog) after leaving him at college (freshman year). I cried on and off all the way home. I will miss him terribly but I know it is time for him to go! I am so fortunate that he is at a great school that seems to be a perfect fit for him!</p>
<p>I just hugged my youngest recent college grad good-bye this morning, off to a northern city for an exciting fellowship and his first apartment. He loaded the U=Haul yesterday with our hand-me-downs and his few accumulated possessions. I thought I’d be weepy, but I actually felt a bit of the excitement that I know he is feeling. He’s launched, and I’d be surprised if he ever lives at our home again. Bravo to him. At 22, it’s time.<br>
I see the college send-off as a trial run of the final send-off. I’m proud of his independence and resourcefulness. And I was one of those parents who “coddled” my kids to some degree, and they matured in spite of it! ;)</p>
<p>^^Moonchild, your post is good news for many of us coddlers.</p>
<p>Another semi-coddler here with a successfully launched college grad.</p>
<p>OP UPDATE: Well, got him dropped off. Wasn’t sure how it would go because he was really sad after saying goodbye to his friends. But once we got there the whole family was upbeat as we met his fantastic roommate, did some final shopping, and got him setup. Of course the final goodbye was hard. Even our usually unsentimental son got a bit teary eyed. I cried the first hour in the car and a bit the next day but have been surprisingly good since. I think partly because we have had good communication from him since – one phone call from him, one we made to him, and one email from him. He seems to really be clicking with his roommate. They are doing all of the Welcome Week activities, playing a lot of pick up basketball, and he’s already asking if he can study abroad in Spain next May. The Spain thing is a bit of a surprise because he swore he had to get back here ASAP next summer to spend every minute with his friends. How quickly things change! Keeping my fingers crossed that the good reports keep coming. Today is the first day of classes!</p>
<p>Cbug, that’s wonderful!</p>
<p>I hope that this time next week I’ll have the same type of feeling you seemed to have reached now.</p>
<p>cbug: Thanks for your exciting post. Love to hear this.</p>
<p>I am gearing up for our trip to school tomorrow. I can hardly handle it today. I’m an emotional mess today, but I will do tons of positive self-talk (all those sentiments throughout this thread) – which I truly believe – and have a wonderful day with D today.</p>
<p>This is a wonderful time for her but, as parents, we get to be weak/emotional sometimes too, don’t we? Just because this is great for our kids, doesn’t mean it’s easy for us.</p>
<p>Our son has been gone a week and a half now. I’m doing much better. One thing that has helped us has been the message feature on Skype. I can send him a quick note, and he can respond when/if he feels like it. I know some families use texting that way, but Skype seems to work better for us.</p>
<p>Dropped my youngest off on Saturday. It was so much more emotional than any of us imagined. It begin on Friday as he was saying good bye to his older brother, sister and best friend. Everyone was crying (and I do mean everyone) especially his sister as these two are extremely close. My son sat in the back seat with his hat pulled low silently crying for 30 minutes. Saturday began with me waking up in tears and my husband crying in the shower. Just another day, right? I have to say we did it quite well as we didn’t wake up our son. We got to the university and began the whirl of activity that is move in. Somehow at a UC my son is on a floor with only 6 people total! How is that even possible?! This was a bit of a letdown to my son so he will need time to adjust to that. The day flew by and before we knew it we were at our last dinner. We had a great time. I held it together until the end. When my husband went to the restroom, my son moved over to sit by me. He just laid his head on my shoulder (this does not happen with my son) and said “I love you mom. Don’t worry. I’ll be back.” How I got out of there without completely falling apart I will never know. When we arrived at the campus, we made the good bye brief. We hugged for a long time. I told him I loved him and off he went. We then got in the car, drove half a block, pulled over, and I completely and totally lost it on the shoulder of my husband. I just sobbed. The next day was better as we drove home down the coast. I would tear up from time to time, but I did better. Each day I feel less teary but I do feel like a part of me is missing. I hope this will pass soon. He is happy and busy. Orientation is today and the first day of classes is tomorrow. My son said it best when he said “I knew I was leaving for college but it didn’t really hit me until I hugged my sister, that I wouldn’t see her for 4 months. That just blindsided me.” It was a very emotional time, but one thing is for sure, I know my son knows he is very, very loved.</p>