Leaving Home Blog #2

 It was a lot harder than giving up some walls and a roof, that thing I’d called home.  Over the years it had become more than just my place of residence, it had become a place filled with familiar faces, schedules and memories. I was now asked to give all of that up. Who was asking me to give it up? Well, I was. And that is why it was so hard…because deep down, I knew I’d have to.

The Monday before I moved out my family gathered around and cried. OK, to paint this picture you have to first understand that my family is not a bunch of criers; something in our waterworks was broken through the generations, which gave me the blessing of the non-crier-curse. But there we sat, a family of non-criers expressing through tears emotions we didn’t know how to voice. 

I am the oldest of five kids and the idea of this eternal family unit being separated for the first time in any of our lives felt sad.  But we all knew it was time to happen, and we all knew things would turn out ok. As scary or sad as it all seemed, it really was quite thrilling and exciting too. :) All in all, I just couldn’t imagine what lay ahead.

I have a lovely mother who taught me a lot of things growing up, one of these being...ease your way into a cold pool. YUP, a pool. First step in and let your feet adjust. Then in to your knees. Then your thighs. And Hips. Just adjust, adjust, adjust.

I now stood at the edge of my situational pool. I looked around for somewhere to set my foot in to let me “adjust”. Nope. This was not the time. I waited for the right moment, and jumped; complete submersion in all things COLLEGE.

Hmm, odd, my situational pool felt a lot like EFY with everyone bringing their bags in, getting their keys, situating their rooms, the first roommate encounters, saying goodbye to family members, etc.  In fact, it took me about a week to realize….this wasn’t EFY. We weren’t going to end with a testimony meeting and just head back home. Nope, we were here for good.

I won’t lie. Times were hard. Conflicts arose. Mistakes were made. But those same times were also really good. Isn’t that how life seems to go?

For all of the anticipation that went into coming to college, I felt like my complete submergence method had worked. I started finding some new familiar faces, a schedule of my own with the creation of some NEW memories. It's true, college was for good. I mean that, for GOOD. I have learned an grown so much! Not just academically, but as a person. I will always be daddy's little girl, the family's hoo-hoo, the sister, the daughter. I will just have to do it from a distance, because now is the time to live out my college experience.