Then They Do

 When our youngest graduated from High School in 2017, we thought we were all finished being patrons and paying tuition. Then last fall we went on a road trip through the New England states. Since we knew 2 students, we included a visit to Sattler College while we were in Boston. That visit sparked an interest in the Biblical & Religious Studies certificate program. And the rest is history, as the saying goes. 

We prayed if this was what God wanted for our daughter's life that He would open the doors. And He did. What initially looked HARD [Greek class and college costs...] started to come together and sound a little more do-able. Then COVID happened. SAT testing got cancelled again and again... orientation went virtual... mask mandates are stricter than at home, etc. It totally changed the college experience and she wavered on postponing till next year, but kept pushing through. 

The last couple weeks have been a flurry of packing and wrapping up the job, and a whole host of last minute things to do with family & friends. Mom & Dad soaking up every minute before launching a fledgling from the nest.  Family cookout the evening before departure

And before we hardly knew what happened, we were doing the Back-to-School routine again. 

#BostonOrBust

We loaded up Tuesday morning. There was a small snafu with a textbook order that got stuck in the postal system 45 minutes from home; we were waiting for that day's mail delivery before we left -surely they will come today! Nope. So we drove [out of route] to the post office. A huge shout-out to our local postmistress, for tracking down our package and forwarding it Priority to Boston free of charge.  

Getting close now.... 

I had never heard of college RAs until this summer, but it is a brilliant system. RA stands for Resident Assistant. It's a student who has been to that college before, assigned to several freshman to show them "the ropes". We totally should've had this when we arrived in service at Hillcrest! Arianna's RA was available to answer her questions before we arrived; she advised us where we'll be able to park minutes before we pulled up to the dorm, and was waiting on the steps to greet us. My hat is off to them; they are doing a fantastic job! It does a mama's heart good to have people looking out for our student.  

Side note: We're from the country so city traffic is not our expertise. We had been advised in advance that we'll be able to double park on the street to unload, but it still felt fortunate that there was a big crane truck (notice the bright yellow in the photo below) delivering flats of plants and trees to the roof of a neighboring building -for a rooftop garden. Cool. Parking behind the truck was easy peasy.  

Prior to arriving in Boston we had been told that parents are prohibited from entering the dorm, due to COVID. I was positively sick that we couldn't move our girl in and see her new digs. I kept praying that somehow it would change till we got there. And God answered "sure, I can do that for you". I was so relieved when the RA said we could go in afterall. If not for COVID, I would've hugged her!  

Call me silly, but one of my favorite things about Boston last fall was the ducklings of Robert McCloskey's book "Make Way for Ducklings" so I am pleased that Arianna's dorm is on Beacon Street. Count up 3 sets of windows in the brown section- just above the decorative carving- that is her room. For now. Every student has their own room right now, due to COVID, but they will get moved together next month if there isn't any virus outbreak. 

I love the view from her window. 💖

Most everyone that knew her 5 years ago never dreamed we'd see something like this in 2020. She has blossomed from a very shy little girl to a brave and social young lady. 

What came next next was not so brave or smile-y. Goodbyes are hard enough under normal circumstances, but when it means walking away from your "baby" who is stuck in isolation it's not pretty. We were at peace with her being there -due to seeing God's hand leading her, but it was HARD. She had done the mandatory COVID testing first thing Monday morning so I had really been hoping & praying we'd get the results by the time we arrived so she wouldn't have to quarantine, but it was not to be. She had to quarantine in this room for the next 26 hours; Richard & I were back home before we got her negative test results and sprung her from isolation. I'm not ashamed to admit that we left a trail of tears the whole way out of Massachusetts. Since we didn't have negative test results we were required to be transient travelers ie. leave the state by bedtime, so we couldn't even hang around doing sightseeing in Boston, so we just left and headed home. Richard said he'll be okay when he knows she's okay. He kept saying he wishes we could fast forward 3 weeks -till she's settled in and made some friends. 

I'm happy to report that it was more like 3 days, instead of 3 weeks. We've been advised that everyone is super nice and we don't need to worry any more. But I'm still feeling lost without my "right hand helper" and listening to this song on replay these days.... 

In the early rush of morning,
Trying to get the kids to school:
One's hanging on my shirt-tail,
Another's locked up in her room.
And I'm yelling up the stairs:
"Stop worrying 'bout your hair, you look fine."

Then they're fightin' in the backseat,
And I'm playing referee.
Now someone's gotta go,
The moment that we leave.
And everybody's late,
I swear that I can't wait till they grow up.

Then they do, and that's how it is.
It's just quiet in the mornin',
Can't believe how much you miss,
All they do and all they did.
You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true:
Then they do.

Now the youngest is starting college,
She'll be leavin' in the Fall.
And Brianna's latest boyfriend,
Called to ask if we could talk.
And I got the impression,
That he's about to pop the question any day.

I look over at their pictures,
Sittin' in their frames.
I see them as babies:
I guess that'll never change.
You pray all their lives,
That someday they will find happiness.

Then they do, and that's how it is.
It's just quiet in the mornin',
Can't believe how much you miss,
All they do and all they did.
You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true:
Then they do.

No more Monday PTA's,
No carpools, or soccer games.
Your work is done.
Now you've got time that's all your own.
You've been waitin' for so long,
For those days to come.

Then they do, and that's how it is.
It's just quiet in the mornin',
Can't believe how much you miss,
All they do and all they did.
You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true:
Then they do.

Ah, then they do.