The On and Off Ramps of Life
Looking back over all those seasons, and thinking about those who still travel with me, I realize I could never have predicted how it would all turn out.
This morning, I stood on the driveway waving as my wife, my mother-in-law, and my daughter departed for college move-in day.
It was both a sad and rewarding moment all at the same time.
All the emotions leading up to this final farewell got me thinking about all the on and off ramps in life.
It’s been a heavy week, especially for our daughter. She has spent the last few days telling her friends and family goodbye. Every day brought a new exit, as friends slowly began departing home, and headed out to begin their own journeys.
Short of perhaps your own departure to a new place or the onset of a new journey, there likely is no other time in life when so many close friends leave you as that which occurs at the end of the summer of one’s senior year of high school.
Soon, as early as this afternoon, a bunch of hellos will replace all of those goodbyes, but it doesn’t make them any easier. It’s heavy. And the reality, whether she realizes it or not, is that many of those goodbyes will be final.