Saying Goodbye

Today, we left our oldest grand-daughter off for a pre-College Summer program for bright/nerdy kids ... it was wonderfully joyous and painfully sad to participate. Grandma and Grandpa were called in to taxi her 85 miles to the West as Mom and Dad were taking her ten year old twin Sisters 150 miles North to spend time on a farming camp.

Oh, did it resonate. It was twenty years ago that we drove our youngest child to leave her off at College ... I sat outside, as M and our daughter unpacked and wrote the following:

Once Before the Altar

The skies above were clear

His eyes were sore,

No pause for crying anymore.

McDowell, Randal, and Campbell Halls

Sycamore trees above a mall.

She’s inside

Unpacking her childhood and leaving behind

The dolls and toys that  filled her mind

For eighteen years that came before

When she and dad played on the floor.

Not at the altar he gives her away

But today

To McDowell, Randal and Campbell Halls.

The Sycamore trees above the mall

Can offer neither peace nor solitude.

No time for age old platitudes

From Dear Old Dad and what he’d say

To take his little girl’s pain away.

But a few more words, he’ll pass her way

Before they hug and wish good day

No matter what, you’re not alone.

Don’t forget, you’ve still a home.

And please, oh please,

Use the phone.

Today, I refused to stay outside and went inside to witness the unpacking. It didn't help. It was still sad and happy. Don't get me wrong, I don't see the denizens of the Last Quarter as being left behind or even lagging behind ... but there is something sad about saying goodbye.