Twas 3 short years ago, I dropped Meredith off for her freshman year at IU. It was my 3rd blog, btw… I remember, vividly, the summer before she left, and the feeling of dread I had, and how I’d just start crying, for apparently “no reason”. The anticipation of her leaving, was almost as bad as dropping her off. Almost. It felt like someone had yanked off one of my arms. Which makes sense, as I have 2 children, 2 arms, and having both of them at home, makes me whole. So this week, I once again, helped move Meredith back to IU (and yes, just me, as Kevin had to stay with the boy and the pooch). And, once again, I feel as if I’m writing this blog with only one arm, as I just do not feel whole. Whomever says it gets easier every year, is fibbing. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is. It does Not get easier.
Even Murphy was protesting Meredith leaving…by sitting on her pile of clothes she started to set out.
This week when I was walking Murph, I passed by my friend Kim’s house, with her car packed, with her daughter’s extras on the roof of her car, and I of course, broke out into tears…Her daughter is heading for her freshman year at Marquette, and I was sad for Kim, plus it brought back memories of me passing by my friend Lori’s house, 3 years ago, when she was getting her youngest off to school, and the truck was in front of her house, and I started sobbing, and couldn’t stop. I got home, was still crying, and Patrick saw me, ran to find Kevin, and accused him of making me cry. 🙂 That did help make me smile, as it had nothing to do with Kevin, but with my sweet baby girl heading off to college. This is what I saw, this week, which made me burst into tears… Funny, looking at it now, it just looks like a lovely car, in front of a well-manicured, beautiful home. 🙂
Happily, we got Meredith loaded up into 2 cars, and we had an uneventful drive there. The trip went by super fast…and that is a 5 hour (or 4-4.25 with speedster Ter and Mer at the wheels) trip, with only Windmills provided as scenic distractions. Zack was readily available to help us move in, and aside from Meredith finding a “fun way to display her purses” (don’t even start with that apple and tree stuff), everything seemed to find a place. We had a fun dinner, and I was able to spend the night in a lovely suite in Indianapolis…The bonus was running into an old college friend, which provided me with lots of laughs and a whole lot of “remember when”…so, didn’t get a lot of sleep, but I was provided with a much-needed distraction, which I greatly needed. Once again, I had to say goodbye and leave Meredith. 🙁
So…getting in my car for my ride home, I connected my iPhone to listen to my music to zone out, and the very first song was from Rudy…The Final Game. And, while I was on Random, and not my Top 25 Played, I must confess that “song/music” is indeed, on my Top 25 Played. And funny how karma works, as Meredith, in her senior year, is in the Final Game. The song could Not have come on at a better time, and been more relevant to what I was feeling, and indeed, provided me with a Much Needed Cry!
So, here I was, once again all teary (just like when I’m watching Rudy, and that music just Kills me)…and the next song, Bohemian Rhapsody! Eureka! I so needed this…I soon became Garth from Wayne’s World, and started car dancing, and continued to rock out all the way on I-65…much to the amusement (or horror) of every truck driver I passed, and I’m happy to announce I got no fewer than 20 honks along the way…not bad for a frumpy, middle-aged chick! It was either the dancing, the skirt, or my killer Tory Burch sunglasses, but nonetheless, I was able to stop crying shortly into the trip, and rocked to these songs, and this is an abbreviated play list, since I don’t want to provide 3.5 hours of my listening pleasure. And I can quickly recite this list, based on “Recently Played” on my iPhone:
Give it to me baby, by Rick James
Garden Party, Ricky Nelson
Fooling Yourself, Styx
Wild Wild Life, Talking Heads
Theme from Terms of Endearment – more tears…
Foreplay, Boston
All the children sing, Todd Rundgren
You Wreck Me, Tom Petty
Theme from Tootsie – and yet more tears…
It’s Raining Men, the Weathergirls
Back where you belong, .38 Special
Happy Day, Shaye
Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Meatloaf – and this brought me home!
I do think I have awesome taste in music…and am sure everyone is quite jealous of my eclectic playlist. 🙂
I’ve heard from friends who also had a good week, with dropping off their kids. My friend, Steph, said “Drop off was good. Dakota was happy and in great spirits. I was a little emotional but not bad.” I do think it’s much easier when your child is happy. What’s horrible, is after you’ve dropped off your child, and you hear from them, and they’re not nearly as happy as they thought they’d be. And that, is actually harder on the parent than the child. The good news is, these young adults, typically adjust within a week or so, so the child is happy, and the parent is happy.
And to give Patrick, equal opportunity blog time, here is a picture my friend Shefali sent me, of Patrick and her son, Deven, off to school for the first day. I think I was the ONLY Mom, who didn’t have the first day of school pic posted on Facebook…and I Always take the first day of picture, but with getting Meredith packed, ready, Murphy fed and walked, I missed the boat when Patrick was yelling goodbye to Meredith, and didn’t get to snap a pic! Crapola! But thank you Shef!! 2 very handsome young men!
Thank you to my dear friend, Carol, who so profoundly shared this quote with me (and she, herself will be going through the same when her son, Brian, goes back to UM (Minnesota, which is Kevin’s alma mater, btw)…
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
Dr. Seuss
And smile, I shall, because we had a great summer…was it the Best Summer Ever? Hmmm… pretty darned close!
Here’s our summer montage:
Go Bulls…Beat the Heat…sadly, they did not.
Way to Go Hawks!!
Murph!!!!!!
Mer’s first day of her internship at ELCA…best internship ever! Mary Beth and Gail, you both rock!!
Yes, there’s that white v-neck tee, once again!
Cheers to Kevin’s BD!
Yeah…Best Summer Ever! 🙂
“I’m glad we had the times together just to laugh and sing a song, seems like we just got started and then before you know it, the times we had together were gone.”― Dr. Seuss
And what a summer it was…and onward to the Best. Fall. Ever!!
Coming soon…my take on the NFL ban on purses. For pete’s sakes! I mean, really?!
xoxo,
T.
Best. Mom. Ever. You’ve outdone yourself. I’ve read lots of college drop off comments/stories/woes but this one really made my day. Your drive home music list is fab and your outlook is inspiring. Lucky, lucky. Thanks for the Friday smiles.
Oh and had to add, she doesn’t look too broke up in that picture at dinner at college?! It’s the time of your life…go get it Meridith!
Well thanks for making me cry Terry! I have one more year before I send one of mine off and I am already dreading it! I love hearing all the stories from friends though on sending off their first child to college. As important as it is for our kids to experience college, it will be so hard to let them go! Thanks for sharing!