Katrina returns to RVA

Katrina at the airport

Somehow sending Katrina for her second year at RVA was harder than sending her last year.  Maybe its because now we know what it's like to go months between seeing her.  Maybe its because she has struggled with migraines last term, and we know she could be heading into the same struggles again.

Whatever the reason, as she walked through the security at the airport alone with her luggage to return to RVA somehow it hit me.  Katrina is grown up.  I am not "raising" her anymore.  She is making her own decisions now.  We can still guide her as parents, but she is making her own way in the world now.

Turning and walking away from the airport, leaving her there alone, was so hard.  Even though I was crying, I knew in my heart that she was ok and that she was going to thrive at school.  It takes a lot of faith to send your child out into the world, especially at such a young age.

It is a little shocking to think that all of her ideals, all of her values, and what we have instilled in her has, for the most part, already been done.  That is a sobering thought, as I quickly thought back over her childhood wondering if I did it right, and what I might have forgotten or done wrong.

How quickly they grow up!