It has been 11 days since we moved our oldest child & daughter out of her childhood home & into her new freshman college dorm room. I gotta say, it’s kinda a whirlwind of emotions adjusting to not having her around the house but the pics of our 4 kids (taken the morning of the move) are what I will remember the most & what I am blessed to have.
The morning of the move Emily was up & ready to go at 4:45 am with her calm, always- got- it-covered demeanor. She had prepared, packed and ordered almost everything by herself with the exception of some essential items that I had Mike (my husband & her dad) order off Amazon a few weeks prior. She just seemed all grown up, ready to go & excited for this new adventure:)
We woke up her three siblings just before we left to come down & say goodbye as they couldn’t go with Mike & I to drop her off since they had school commitments they couldn’t miss. They all came downstairs at different times and were in different areas of our great room. Everyone was handling their own morning business routines. But as soon as Sarah (our youngest child & daughter) saw Emily come downstairs (Emily was headed towards the pantry to grab something) she blurted out, “Em-i-ly!” in an elongated yell with a tone that was saying your leaving & I don’t want you to! I’m gonna miss you too much! We are having so much fun together as a family! She did this while running to her & embracing her with a hug. Julia (our second oldest & daughter) then rushed over and joined in the hug. I quickly called Mikey over (he was walking away from the situation with tears in his eyes) to take a picture of them together. I didn’t see Mike but I think he was either watching from the laundry area or he had left the room as I’m sure he was breaking down himself.
As their mother, at that moment, watching how the four of them genuinely love each other I was overwhelmed with happiness. I saw my award in front of my own eyes for parenting with everything I’ve had-blood, sweat & tears over the last almost 19 amazing (many blessings & some trial) years. The love between our children (our whole family) is so special & what I have been trying to nurture in them since we took each of them home from the hospital. The crazy thing is God gave me what I wanted and now our oldest was leaving to create her own new adventures & hopefully loving relationships:(
One of the promises in the Bible says that love never ends. 1 Corinthians 13:8 And although I have been on an emotional roller coaster since she left, adjusting to not having her around I know God needs her quiet spirit to spread the love we have as a family to others.