There must be tens of thousands of parents eagerly awaiting the return of their son or daughter from college, especially those parents of students who are completing their freshman year.
It is a very difficult thing to drop off your 18 year old at college, help them move into their dorm, and then drive away, hoping that they will be able to handle all the new stressors that will impact their lives from this point on.
There is also an internal event which occurs in the parents. They come into touch with the knowledge that if their child is now in college they must be older than they feel. This is especially true of older parents like myself.
I was 45 years old when my youngest was born. Since she is now 19 years old it is not difficult to deduce my age. Most people think that she is my grand daughter. It was very difficult for me to drop her off at college last August, and it has been a struggle for me every day to begin the process of letting go of the life we had together for 18 years.
My wife died when my daughter was 10 years old; thus, we had a number of years together when it was just me and her. I miss those times; yet, I realize that I did the best I could do to prepare her for the life ahead of her, the life to come.
She has done very well over the course of her freshman year. Her grades are excellent. She has adapted to college life as if she were meant for it. I am very encouraged by the way that she has adapted to a new environement, except for the fact that she now has a boyfriend as well.
I have not done as well. I have been sad, even despondent, in her absence, but I am doing better. I am going to recover just as I did when my older children left home to go to college. I am playing golf again, writing again, hiking again, and getting on with my life.
It is also the end of the semester for the students in my philosophy classes.
I begin each of my classes with 42 students. When the semester ends I am fortunate to have 30 students remaining. Some simply disappear. They do not drop the class. They just never show up again. Others try the best that they can but they have child care issues, marital issues, legal issues, financial issues and so on. They drop out too, or simply hang on and fail the course.
Only 3 or 4 students out of the 42 who began finish with a grade of A. This is a tragedy; yet, it is a reality.
It is the end of yet another semester.
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