Time to Go

At last the time came to leave for college. The weeks and months leading up to this moment seemed endless. No paying job was found so The Girl volunteered part time at the Habitat for Humanity Re-store. I can live with that. Last minute bonding came in the form of a three-day Mommy-Daughter trip to NYC. Neither of us had seen a Broadway musical, nor had we experienced the summer crowds. Points on our credit card gave us a room at the Hilton Times Square so we were in the thick of it. The best part was doing it with The Girl.

Preparing for the college move went well owing to plenty of prep time and a good list. [Still, two packages were mailed in the first week for items left behind.] The Girl is in a temporary triple but will move to another dorm soon. That part is a bit hurtful to her right now, but she has an amazing spirit and will soon make new friends.

Separation was well accomplished as there were no tears. Still... I am not a person who sits and contemplates what I am feeling. On the way home from the school I tried to put a name to it. I tried for a couple of days. "Unsettled." That's what I finally decided. Of course I miss The Girl. I've been going in her jewelry box and picking out a piece to wear each day. I've cleaned a bit of her room each day. I hug the soft friends she left behind. But no tears. Yet. It's hard to be sad when I'm so happy for her and her new adventure. After a couple of days I talked this over with Hubby. Funny, he felt the same way, only his term was "out of sorts."

We've been married 25 years. Every day to and from work Hubby passes the hotel where we stayed the first night we were married. (The next day we flew to Canada.) A couple of months ago he made a reservation at that hotel for the Saturday after we dropped off The Girl at college. I didn't really want to go. I wasn't feeling up to it but it meant so much to him so I didn't say anything. My whole attitude changed when I saw that he reserved the Bridal Suite. It was beautiful. He asked that chocolate covered strawberries (my favorite) be delivered to the room. He also made dinner reservations at Morton's for that evening. They had a special menu printed for us and took our picture. The next day we went to the ballgame and our team won!

The weekend completely cured us of our funk. It seemed weird to go away when we had a perfectly empty house but it was just what we needed. We still miss The Girl but we are celebrating each other. As it should be.