College Drop Off: We Went, We Moved Him In, I Got The T-Shirt.

August 29, 2013

Two, actually.
I bought two t-shirts, because I couldn’t decide between the short-sleeved hot pink shirt and the long-sleeved orange and blue shirt–school colors–so I went home with both.

So, the deed is done. We dropped our younger son off at college and I didn’t die. I can tell you what leaving felt like, though. It felt like having a full-body bandage pulled off, with that last little sticky part that always stings the most being positioned right over my heart. But again, I didn’t die. Jim didn’t either. We were sort of thrown for the rest of the day, but we’re going to be absolutely just fine. Also, there was a whole bucket of awesome that happened yesterday that I’d rather write about:

My sister posted on Tumblr and when the tweet promoting it came through on my phone I read the teaser and smartly decided to read it later when we got back home from Wisconsin. A couple of minutes later I got an email from my sister with the subject line “READ THIS LATER”; she had sent me the link. Good decision, me! But I read it last night and loved it, and you need to read it too because it’s a beautiful piece of writing, and a sweet story, and it WILL probably make you cry a little bit (fair warning!) but it’s beautiful (did I say that already?) and it’s one of my favorite things she’s written, ever. Click here, read, and then come back.

In completing his room inspection form so we could get his belongings moved in, J, found a pair of underwear on the top of one of the bookshelves. Welcome to college, son.

Welcome to college.

Due to the fact that J’s dorm room is on the first floor and that he was able to move in two days ahead of the majority of students due to his campus job training, we got the two cars unloaded AND his room set up in only about an hour. An added bonus was that we didn’t have a bunch of other people distracting us and had a very nice time getting everything unpacked, including his “The Walking Dead” poster, which he chose to hang on the wall next to his bed. WHERE HE SLEEPS. EEK!

Sleeping with the zombies.

As many of you know from what I’ve previously written, J likes to smell delicious. That’s why he uses the kids’ shampoo by Suave that comes in a bright pink bottle. I suggested that perhaps a full-sized pink bottle in his shower caddy might be a little…much, and so I had a nice chuckle as I poured the stuff into the nondescript plastic bottle Jim picked up at the store.

Shampoo disguise

When J noticed the name signs on the room across the hall, he immediately referred to the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” by telling me, “Look who lives across from me: Nick…Nick…Nick…Nicki…” I laughed my head off because I would have said the exact same thing, had I seen it first. I have clearly done a great job raising him.

Nick Nicky Nicholas

We took him to lunch and then all too soon it was time for us to leave so he could go to his training session. Although it was obviously rip-off-a-bandage painful, this was the best part of the day because MY KID IS STARTING COLLEGE! At a place we all love! The last time I dropped off a kid at a college that we all loved, he began a very successful three (so far) years, fit in just fine, enjoyed (most) of his classes, made lots of friends, and learned the skills that will (hopefully) catapult him into a great career. So yeah, that’s the good stuff I keep reminding myself about.

J and Melisa

I received so many well-wishes, messages, and texts yesterday, and appreciated every single one. My phone beeped with them throughout the day and they really lifted me, so thanks to all of you for reaching out to me. This text from Momo made me laugh my head off.

Texts from Momo

I love my friends.

After leaving J, we eventually made our way down to D’s house so we could take him to dinner before heading home. First, we spent a few minutes sitting in his backyard, which recharged me a little bit.

Lake Michigan, Kenosha Wisconsin

Yes, that’s really his backyard. (Lake Michigan FTW!)

Spending time with our older son recharged me, too. It was great to see him.

Melisa and D

All in all, a very highly-charged, emotional day, but a great day. And at the end, I got to go home with Jim. So, happy ending. I love those, don’t you?

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