Letting go...

We took our oldest child to college this weekend. It was a mad rush of getting her car ready (it had an overheating problem and we were going to TEXAS!), getting her car packed and leaving on time. So we thought once we arrived on campus it would be all laid back and easy, NOT!
Who knew that a college kid would need so many things. Irons and ironing boards, trash cans and vacumn cleaners, hair dryers and laundry soap. Seemed like it was never finished, thank GOD for Wal Mart!
So as we spent the weekend with her there was an unspoken tension that filled the air knowing that on Sunday we would say our goodbyes and leave her on campus six hours from home.
We had a lot of fun, she made some new friends and in the end the letting go part was really all in our minds. We hugged, cried and said "love you, see you later" as we gathered our belongings to come home.
It is a weird feeling, letting go. She has been brought up well, is independent, a thinker, smart and hard working. She has determination, grit and guts. She is very rational, not critical, and not one to jump without first thinking it through. She is all of those things and yet it is scary to think she is going to make her own choices now. She is going to be making her own rules to live by. She is going to decide when she goes to bed, what she is going to eat and what she is going to do.
I guess as parents we are all working for that day when we are to let them go into their own life. But it sure is hard to let go when you have held on for so long...