Another One Leaves the Nest

None of today's plans turned out. The Knight is driving Elizabeth off to college in another state and I am not in the van with them. I hate that. Hate it. I feel like I hardly said goodbye. My mom was originally going to come and watch the kids for the weekend so John and I and the baby could take Lizzy together early this a.m. Well, the roads were atrocious last night and it took my mom twice as long to get home from work. She would have had to leave early this morning vs. after work last night as planned. So...when mom arrived home late last night, she discovered water in her basement from a broken pump. We changed our plans to taking the younger children with us and leaving just around noon or shortly thereafter. That was the revised plan until Joachim vomited all over me and himself as we were getting ready to pack up. I figured it was clearly a sign I needed to stay home. Okay, Lord. You win. I had planned on hours of free time to talk with my daughter uninterrupted. Nope.

I want her to know how proud of her I am. How much of a leader she is. How much I loved talking to her on and off throughout the day while being mommied to death by all the Littles under foot. What a great tutor she was to her siblings. How great Mozart can sound when she plays his music. How she can turn a dull cocoon into a beautiful butterfly:) How she was so full of artistic ideas. How she took great care in everything she did. How she was her own person and didn't worry what others thought. How she was sensitive to the lack of humanitarianism in the world (especially in China - that really bothered her). How she was always keeping an eye on her older siblings and redirecting them onto the right path. I am going to miss her. Enough of the eulogy;-)

I know she is going to do great in college. I am confident in that. I pray she finds and develops bonding friendships that she will carry into her adulthood with other like minded Catholics that embrace the faith and morality. I have a great sense of security in that she is going to a truly Catholic college. I can be confident she will have professors teaching the truth in a world that boldly rejects it. I am so happy for her I could yodel/scream like Goofy!

See you at Spring break, Lizzy! Good luck, sweety!

St. Benedict, watch over my daughter!