<p>fauxmaven - Thanks for sharing that lovely story! We used to watch Sound of Music every Christmas.</p>
<p>It brought back memories of my last days before college. Some friends organized a progressive dinner, walking from house to house between course (and the houses were not that close). It was lots of fun, but the part I remember most is standing around the piano at the last house singing. We had never done that before. </p>
<p>We sang many songs of the era, but this nostalgic one I particularly remember which can still choke me up a bit- </p>
<p>I’m sailing away,
Set an open course for the virgin sea,
'Cause I’ve got to be free,
Free to face the life that’s ahead of me,
on board, I’m the captain, so climb aboard,
We’ll search for tomorrow on every shore,
And I’ll try, Oh Lord I’ll try, to carry on</p>
<p>Soon it will be DS’s turn to sail away. It is his time to do so, but I surely will have a time of mourning.</p>
<p>JustAMomofFour…That was a great post and I can remember a similar event the night before my daughter headed out to college. You will laugh about that in a few days.</p>
<p>Our last hour was frazzled! We were about to get in the car, when my phone rang. Younger S, who was at HS freshman orientation, had to make several schedule changes and missed the return bus. So I drove out to the high school to get him, then left with H and S1. We made it in plenty of time and timed it just right. I wasn’t as weepy as I thought I would be - more like a “hole in my heart” feeling. When we’d said our goodbyes and were waiting for the elevator, I glanced down the hall and he was out there with his Droid phone taking photos of the pennant nametags to send to his friends … I knew right then that he’d be all right.</p>
<p>These posts are great! making me laugh and tear up. I’m just hoping that my son who is a senior gives me a reason to miss him when he leaves a year from now…;)</p>
<p>We take our DS to the airport in about 2 hours, we’ll stay until he leaves about 2 hours after that. This last week has been a doozy, shipping (a 52 lb. box) and packing (30 lb carry-on, yeah for space bags) as well as high emotions, as we live in So. Cal., and he is going to VERMONT (aackk!) He is the last of ours, and due to his/mine/ours, an only child since he was 2 years old. That is making this especially difficult. Talk about being teary, I’ve broken down twice at work… and cried most of the way home today. My DH says he’ll break down later, when he has time. I’m just hoping our son will be OK; he’s been on the edge of losing it for weeks. At least we’ll see him again at Thanksgiving, evidently the campus closes on holidays. Good luck all, so glad to see I’m not overreacting.</p>
<p>In a year it will be much easier to send them to college
I drove our D. to airport yesterday; she flew to Midwest for her sophomore year. She was pretty excited to meet her friends again, to see her new apartment and just to return to her independent life; and I was absolutely ok seeing her in a good mood, just reminding to do this and that… It became a routine for us to drive her to/from airport during this year; and since I know that I’ll see her in September ( we’ll fly there for Family weekend), and in November ( she will come for Thanksgiving), and then in December again for Winter break, and so on I don’t feel any sadness anymore. She needs to be her own to feel confident and mature; and we are gradually getting used to live in distance from her :-)</p>
<p>Freshamn year leaving is sad and emotional. Sophomore year you do the happy dance when they finally go back after a seemingly endless summer of sloppiness- they are finally gone with all their stuff and attitude and you can get your house back to normal!
I will miss her a little.</p>
<p>S and his friends just took a final group photo and posted it to facebook. He had such a great group of friends in high school. His best friend is leaving tomorrow.</p>
<p>Ours was in June when we flew from Texas to New York to drop PMKjr off at the camp where he is a counselor this summer. Drove him over to a friend’s house, they had been campers together and now counselors, and they were so excited to hit the road that it absolutely rubbed off on me. </p>
<p>Which is not to say there were not tears in the days before and after! In a few days he’s done with camp, I’ve flown back up, we’ll have a week to get ready and then his father will fly up so the two of us can do drop off day at the campus. I don’t know what that day will be like. I’m hoping for good things, again, I think my son’s excitement will carry me through.</p>
<p>pugmadkate: Similar situation here. I was a wreck in May/June as I took D to the camp in another state where she is working this summer in mid-June (she came home for prom and graduation and I took her to college orientation), but she is still not home yet from the summer job. She comes back from camp on Sunday, then we drive her to freshman year at college on Thursday. I’ve been ok all summer, but the reality of it all will hit me once she gets home for her last three days. At least she is driving distance away (only 3-4 hrs).</p>
<p>I’m doing a lot of positive self-talk (about how often I actually will be seeing her - Parents Weekend, Thanksgiving, Dec-Jan, etc.). I know I’m going to be a wreck once I see her again this weekend as it will all hit me that she is really growing up.</p>
<p>Glad there are people here who can relate to the bitter sweetness of the situation.</p>
<p>Today has been mostly awful.I counted 6 outbreaks so far…the worst is when someone asks if D went today ,and the tears come back.This is my #4 child,but last one and only girl ,so I knew this would be tough,plus I had lost a great job last year,so there isn’t alot to distract myself with.I mean,it’s not just a child leaving for college-it’s the end to a great chapter of mothering kids in the nest.Of course I’m dying to call her and ask how things are going,but I won’t,because I want her to start getting to know her new classmates,and she will call when she has a chance .I did call my eldest son (he is 30) and sobbed a bit to him,but he’s used to this from me,and we chatted about his spending 2 weeks in SF,where we started out and I grew up there,and I felt better after that.Doing this forum is great also!I know it will get easier each day.I am not at all ashamed to cry in public,if I feel the tears coming .My 24th anniversary is Tuesday,so it will be nice to celebrate something.</p>
<p>The final hour this year was even harder than last year–S knew he would never be returning to this house. H and I are retiring and moving 2 1/2 hours farther away during the first week of October. </p>
<p>S also spent a lot of time holding his guinea pig and telling her how much he loves her. Chrissie is almost 7, which is very old for a guinea pig, so it’s entirely possible that she’ll die while he’s gone. :(</p>
<p>My DD leaves in 2 weeks, so by then almost everyone else will have already left! She is so excited, and that helps all of us a lot. Also, I think back to how I felt when my parents dropped me off at college. I wasn’t so close to them at that point in my life, but that didn’t stop me from balling my head off. I think I cried mostly out of fear of the unknown. I quickly realized, though, how the distance actually improved our communication with each other and how even though I was becoming independent, I also needed to stay connected. That definitely helps me now, knowing that the relationship with my daughter is not being severed and may even be improved in some small but significant ways. I know I will cry at the actual moment we have to leave her, but I feel we are leaving her in the next best hands besides our own. I feel the loss for myself, but it’s balanced by the gain for her.</p>
<p>Hugs to you, fauxmaven, and how blessed you are to have that older son to commisserate with. Hugs to all the rest of you who have just gone through this, or are just about to. Man, this transition is rough for parents!</p>
<p>Last year, we went to freshman orientation with D, and we spent the last few hours telling her that no, she couldn’t get on the plane with us and fly back home. We said our final goodbyes in the parking lot, and it just about broke my heart to watch her turn and walk toward her dorm alone. She looked so small and sad.</p>
<p>Our youngest will be heading to school next week for her sophmore year, and I already have a pit in my stomach at the speed that this summer has passed by and over how much I’ll miss her. I think it’s hard at the end of every summer because you never know what the next year will bring and whether they’ll return. Good to commiserate with everyone here and read your stories!</p>
<p>Mine is a sr this yr so we have one more year before this–
I have so appreciated hearing these stories as I know that while I will be proud of kiddo, I will sooo miss kiddo.</p>
<p>I remember my folks dropping me off at college–I was a freshman in a largely soph/jr dorm do to over crowding… My roommmate was a jr and would not arrive for awhile…
So out of my element–and my parents left for a “vacation” after dropping me off…(looking back it was probably to help them adjust - however all I remember are their smiles and leaving…)
Had no clue where to get my meal card, my ID, etc etc…</p>
<p>A knock on the door–it was the girl from the room next door. That girl Jan was my first friend…and the transition began ;o) and I never looked back. It was all good.</p>
<p>Stevensmama, that’s a sad post. Good luck with your move, and take good care of his friend, Chrissie.</p>
<p>I sympathize with all you parents saying your goodbyes this month. My turn is still a year off, and I dread it. As someone said earlier, it’s not just the “goodbye,” it’s the closing of a chapter of my life that has been so wonderful, fun, and fulfilling for me. My D and I are very close and we always will be. Still, I’ll grieve for the ending of her childhood years at home. One small suggestion for dealing with sadness: get outside and do some gardening. Work in your yard. Work in someone else’s yard. It’s tremendously satisfying, gets you physical activity, sunshine, and fresh air (hopefully), and takes your mind off worries and sadness by refocusing it on very basic tasks: weed, mulch, rake, mow, prune, plant. Late summer/fall is a great time for planting shrubs and trees…maybe plant something in honor of your S/D’s matriculation to college, and watch it grow (as they do) over the years to come.</p>
<p>Best wishes to all going through this transition!</p>
<p>LasMa…I remember that feeling too. I saw my son turn and walk away and realized that he looked about 14 at the time. I really could not imagine what his first year was like. He just graduated and has a huge network of friends…so I guess all went well.</p>
