I'm Off to College, Grandma

It seems like yesterday that my granddaughter was born. Well, not quite yesterday. There were trips to the park to watch her as she played with the other kids on the swings; her first T-Ball games followed by an interesting mix of basketball, swimming, and softball; the middle school years when she lived and breathed Harry Potter and video games; and, finally, high school, the years where she and I took a trip together at least once a year and talked far into the night about things we both considered important at the time.

It was no secret all during these growing up years that she planned to go to college, but that was far off in the future. It wasn't actual reality.

But, today, it became reality.

She phoned this afternoon and asked me to get on the computer so we could talk for a while using AIM, our usual method of communication. I did, and was greeted with, "I'm off to college, Grandma. I'll be leaving tomorrow."

I had known for some time that she was leaving during the last half of September, but had managed to block the actual date out of my mind. I glanced at the calendar---alas, it really was the last half of September.

Of course I acted like I thought it was the grandest news she could have given me, and told her college was going to be a wonderful experience. She agreed, but sounded a little sad when she finally said good-bye, promising to e-mail me often.

I told her that I loved her, and would be looking forward to her letters, but, somehow, I knew that things would never be the same again.

Then I signed off and cried.