Tomorrow is the day we drive our packed car north to college on the road to our daughter’s future.  I will still be her mom, but it will look different from here on out. So you might be wondering … “What is Julie thinking?”

Am I just eating donuts? Am I using these last days well? Am I growing in the change?

I’m thinking a lot. In my head I’m even blogging about it and sharing it with you, because somehow it makes me feel better to think about sharing it with you, but not many of the words are making it here. Why? Because Jo says something like, “Do you want to paint with me?”  or “Can you make zucchini bread before I leave?”  or “Want to come see what I packed?” and then the words just dissolve and I dash away for a few more precious moments in this season of life.  I have a feeling I’m about to be hijacked.

Am I crying? I’m saving up, I think. I only “lift the lid on the pot” to let out a few tears here and there, and I’m going to try not to bubble all over and make too much of a mess all at once. But if you hear some loud wailing on Sunday about noon, Eastern Time, that would be me 🙂

So since I have so few words arriving all the way to my keyboard, I want to share some sweet words sent to me by a friend who has a little girl babe who reminds me of my grown up girl when she was small and didn’t wander far from home to places like “campus” and “university” and “future.” My girlfriend helped me think of the Top 10 Blessings of Sending Your “Baby” to College. I’m so glad she did … I needed it!

Top 10 Blessings of Sending Your “Baby” to College

1. The joy of knowing that you have raised a young woman confident enough to spread her wings and leave the nest
2. A chance to watch the “friendship” part of the mother/daughter relationship grow into something lovely
3. Road trips!
4. A chance to be a family of 3 again, this time with Jacob
5. An excuse to buy cute stationary
6. Revisit your creativity in putting together Halloween bags or Easter baskets, but this time in the form of care packages
7. Excuse to wear comfy slouchy hoodies with school logo on it
8. Less dishes to wash
9. Even more anticipation for Thanksgiving and Christmas break
10. New opportunities to pray with your husband

I love the Top 10 she gave me. And as she requested, I’ll remind her of those when her girl babe has visions of the future in her eyes. “Like apples of gold in settings of silver
Is a word spoken in right circumstances” (Prov. 25:11).

My plan is to vlog on Thursday morning when I have some alone time and Jo is waking up on the other side of town in her dorm room. But I can’t guarantee that.  After all, she might text me and say, “Wanna come help me unpack?”  And then I’ll dash away for a few precious minutes in her new world of “campus” and “university” and “future.”