A Moving Experience

 

 

This week was our second college move-in but our first time doing it out of town. Getting Jada into her freshman dorm at Drexel involved loading up the car and driving down the street, since campus is literally in our neighborhood. Plus, the school did a great job of coordinating the logistics, which came in handy since it was pouring rain and we had boxes in and on top of our car as well as all five of us. 

For Aaron, Kansas State move-in involved me and him flying into Kansas City, renting a car, and driving it two hours into Manhattan where campus is located. We efficiently hit a Walmart and a bike shop, the former to buy dorm items and the latter to scope out the e-bike he wanted to use to get around town. Having banged out both tasks, we checked into our hotel adjacent to campus, walked to some Mexican take-out, feasted in the hotel lobby, and crashed out for the day. 

The next morning I went for a short run through campus to Aaron’s dorm, where I was lucky to run into a staff member so I could ask them a few questions about the place. After that I returned to our room, showered, went out and got breakfast, and then woke up Aaron. In short order, we loaded up the car, made the short drive to campus, hauled his stuff into his room, and then drove to the bike shop to pick up his bike. 

It’s at this point that our paths diverged. I gave Aaron a long hug and wished him well, and then headed back to Kansas City in our rental car, while he biked back towards his dorm to get to know his new wheels and get himself unpacked. As I drove back to the airport, I said some prayers for our middle child, giving thanks for the path he’s taken to get here and asking God to protect and prosper his time in college. 

In eight long years we will hope to repeat this rite of passage one last time, with Asher our youngest. With two out of three kids out of the nest (and Jada, while she returns home most weekends, will be in Taiwan for the fall quarter for study abroad), things will certainly feel different around the house. Such is the saga of every parent lucky enough to watch their kid grow up and move on.