Off to College

My baby girl, my oldest, Sian, went off to college yesterday. As she's attending a university fairly close to us, Husband and I got to drive her there and help her haul all her stuff up to her third floor dorm room. We met her roomie, visited the cafeteria, and walked onto campus to get her student ID and find out where she can do her banking. I went to this university 20 years ago, and just about everything has changed since I walked those grounds and sat in those classrooms. The dorm rooms are reconfigured, the cafeteria has undergone a complete and lovely overhaul, and many new buildings have been added.

We were standing in a crowded hallway waiting for Sian to have her student ID printed and Husband asked me, "You look like you're enjoying this. Would you go back if you could?"

I don't know. Would I go back? If I went back knowing what I know now, I would miss my family too much. If I went back in time with no memory of my life since college, I'd end making all the same decisions I made the first time around and simply relive my life. No, I wouldn't go back. Nor do I expect Sian to have all the same experiences that I did. She's not me, and she'll make different choices and do different things. I just hope there are plenty of happy times interspersed with the inevitable drama of living with other girls, dating, and learning to take care of yourself as an adult.

I only went to the university for 1 1/2 years. I didn't finish my degree because I left college to be a missionary, and then I got married soon after returning home. I hadn't counted on meeting the man I was going to marry while I was in England; rather, I had fully intended to come back home and finish up my education. I have no regrets about my decision to marry and have children while supporting my husband as he finished his education and began providing for our family. I have been wonderfully blessed with love and happiness.

What more can a parent wish for their child than to be happy? Because she's always lived her life in a manner that allows her to respect herself and others, I think Sian will do just fine. It won't stop me from missing her, but I can sleep peacefully knowing she's ready for this big change and whatever she will face.