Tears on move in day

Today is the beginning of move in day at Baylor University. I am here auditing them and drove into town and saw all the hustle and bustle of kids (sorry that that term might seem rude, but since I had my own, most people younger than me are considered "kids" to me) and their parents. Well, I happened to see this one dad running around their car going to grab boxes and I LOST IT. Tears welled up and I just couldn't help but be heartbroken for this man leaving his baby behind. I instantly thought of Trace and Elizabeth and the thought of leaving them made my heart break. Luckily they are 5 and 2 and I have a few years to prepare.

The moral of the story though is that I again had a moment where I realized what my parents must have gone through. I called my mom to tell her about the tears and tell her that I can only try and appreciate what they must have gone through on that 6 hour drive home after leaving me at Texas Tech. There is no way I could have known or appreciated the feelings they must have had until I had my own children. Of course, my mother, in her infinite motherly wisdom, just said that all you can do is raise them to make good decisions and then pray for the rest.

SO, here's to all the parents leaving their "babies" at college, to my parents who prepared me pretty darn well for life, and to me and JP who can only pray that we are raising our babies to grow into the adults we hope they will become.