I never imagined it would be this hard.
I put my 14 year old daughter, Taylor on a flight to go to sleep-away camp for two weeks last Sunday.
When she finishes her 2 week camp, she is not immediately coming home but will continue her summer adventure. Traveling from a remote lakeside in Maine, she will then stay with my sister-in-law Dina in Portland, ME.
Dina is a single gal in the city and is hands down the “cool” Auntie. She will treat Taylor to a least a day or two in the relatively metropolitan city of Portland. Taylor and Dina have a special bond…which includes the Twilight series of movies. Conveniently (and serendipitously) the movie ‘Eclipse’ releases during the time Taylor is with Dina, so they will get to see the third movie of the series together, just as they have the first two.
Then, Dina will drive Taylor to the middle of the state of Maine, to stay with my wonderful In-Laws and friends of ours.
My Mother-In-Law and Father-In-Law live on a farm, in a house that is more than 100 years old, in Milo, ME. A real honest-to-god farm. Don and Deanne are the most wonderful people. Big Don is the salt and sage of their little town and Deanne is its heartbeat. They are looking forward to hosting my daughter and spoiling her in the way that only Grandparents can do.
My other sister-in-law, Darcy lives in the area with her two beautiful children, Jake (12) and Hillary (8). They all also have said how excited they are to see Taylor and spend time with her. I have a feeling that Hillary will be glued to Taylor’s side every chance that she gets.
Then Taylor will also visit our friends, Ronnie and Lori Towne and their daughter, Allie. Ronnie and Donnie (insert laugh here) have been best friends since grade school…Lori was my Matron of Honor for my wedding to Donnie…Taylor and Allie have been best buddies for all the years that their parents have been friends and traveled together.
Then my travel-happy kid will get on a flight from Portland, ME to NYC. She will be picked up by another good friend, Courtney, who currently lives in on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Courtney (another “cool” Auntie) also has plans to spoil Tay and take her for a pedicure in the big city.
After Taylor spends a couple of days with Courtney in NYC (which she is supposed to be babysitting, as a “Mommy’s Helper”), Donnie and I are flying up to NYC to meet her.
Our family will then spend several days soaking up NYC…staying with the Groomes, and taking in a Broadway Show.
I put my 14 year old daughter, Taylor on a flight to go to sleep-away camp for two weeks last Sunday.
When she finishes her 2 week camp, she is not immediately coming home but will continue her summer adventure. Traveling from a remote lakeside in Maine, she will then stay with my sister-in-law Dina in Portland, ME.
Dina is a single gal in the city and is hands down the “cool” Auntie. She will treat Taylor to a least a day or two in the relatively metropolitan city of Portland. Taylor and Dina have a special bond…which includes the Twilight series of movies. Conveniently (and serendipitously) the movie ‘Eclipse’ releases during the time Taylor is with Dina, so they will get to see the third movie of the series together, just as they have the first two.
Then, Dina will drive Taylor to the middle of the state of Maine, to stay with my wonderful In-Laws and friends of ours.
My Mother-In-Law and Father-In-Law live on a farm, in a house that is more than 100 years old, in Milo, ME. A real honest-to-god farm. Don and Deanne are the most wonderful people. Big Don is the salt and sage of their little town and Deanne is its heartbeat. They are looking forward to hosting my daughter and spoiling her in the way that only Grandparents can do.
My other sister-in-law, Darcy lives in the area with her two beautiful children, Jake (12) and Hillary (8). They all also have said how excited they are to see Taylor and spend time with her. I have a feeling that Hillary will be glued to Taylor’s side every chance that she gets.
Then Taylor will also visit our friends, Ronnie and Lori Towne and their daughter, Allie. Ronnie and Donnie (insert laugh here) have been best friends since grade school…Lori was my Matron of Honor for my wedding to Donnie…Taylor and Allie have been best buddies for all the years that their parents have been friends and traveled together.
Then my travel-happy kid will get on a flight from Portland, ME to NYC. She will be picked up by another good friend, Courtney, who currently lives in on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Courtney (another “cool” Auntie) also has plans to spoil Tay and take her for a pedicure in the big city.
After Taylor spends a couple of days with Courtney in NYC (which she is supposed to be babysitting, as a “Mommy’s Helper”), Donnie and I are flying up to NYC to meet her.
Our family will then spend several days soaking up NYC…staying with the Groomes, and taking in a Broadway Show.
I have spent countless hours ensuring a memorable trip / vacation for Taylor.
The day previous to Taylor’s departure last Saturday, I drove myself (and her) crazy with my ever increasing and shrill inquiries…”DID YOU REMEMBER TO PACK…(insert necessary item here)”
I pride myself on being level headed, results oriented and a general cool customer all the way around. But when faced with saying goodbye to my darling daughter, who had been the focus of my life for almost the last 15 years, I kind of fell apart.
Knowing that this was the dress rehearsal for her inevitable final leap from the nest, I was teary…no, I was soggy from the tears.
I keenly miss her right now, even though I know she is enjoying the experience of a lifetime.
I just didn’t expect to miss her this much. As she has been the focus of my life…it is definitely difficult to refocus on anything else.
I hope the next four years pass VERY slowly.
I would love to hear how anyone else (mothers / parents) survived sleep-away Camp, High School, College…without their heart breaking…
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