This is the Beginning of Your Future....

 We visited La Roche again last weekend.  This visit was a little different from the others.  Tyler had to take his placement test for writing and math and get his college ID picture taken.  While that was going on, a number of different speakers presented information to us about areas such as financial aid, campus life, etc….

This visit made it real.  In a few shorts months; Tyler would be a freshman at La Roche College.

As we sat in the room waiting for the presentation to start, I eyed up the other incoming freshmen and parents.  I looked for anyone who seemed shady.   Of course, I looked for baseball players as well because that’s what baseball moms do!  I saw limited shady characters, possibly 2 baseball players and thus far, no tears for me.  Maybe I was getting used to this “college” thing. 

Because I’m a big nerd, I sat in the front row.  I pulled out my pen and paper and settled in to prepare to take as many notes as I could.  Marie Deem, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Student Academic Support Services, smiled and welcomed all of us.  I thought, ‘Hey, she’s nice!  I like her’.   She explained the day’s events and then before dismissing the students for testing, she added, “This is the beginning of your future”.   

Wait! What? Oh, Marie! Why? Why, Marie, why??   I liked you! I felt I bonded with you!  How could you do this? You just ripped my heart out and stomped on it, Marie!

And just like that I was full of emotion.  The tears filled my eyes as I watched Tyler leave the room never once looking back at his momma.  He left with all those shady characters!  I sat there praying and hoping no one tried to slip him a rohypnol!  How was I supposed to concentrate?

But I did.  For 2 hours I listened to various speakers chat about different aspects of the La Roche experience. And I can proudly say that I only asked one question!   Finally, Marie let us know that the students were done testing and they were coming to join us. 

Wait! What?  Sweet! Way to totally redeem yourself, Marie! I take back all those plans I made in my head to create a voo-doo doll of you when I got home!

Because I’ve matured, I knew better than to jump up and run to Tyler as soon as I saw him.  Instead I sat patiently and waited for him to come to me and tell me everything while I sat and listened quietly without interrupting.

HA!  Yeah, right!!!! Me? Sit patiently?  Listen Quietly?? I walked over to him (speed walking counts as walking!) and listened semi-quietly! Hey, I’m full of emotion and I had questions! That was the best I could do!

We finished listening to the speakers and then ate lunch in the “Café”, as Tyler likes to call it.  I felt it my duty to explain to him what the “Freshman 15” was and that ice cream is not his friend! We visited the bookstore to purchase some gear and I introduced myself to the father of an incoming freshman baseball player (another story for another day).  We met with my BFF, Marie, and set up a preliminary schedule for Tyler and miraculously, I kept my mouth shut and let him make his own decisions about what courses he wanted to take. 

La Roche baseball had a double-header that day so we headed to the baseball field.  I walked a little behind Tyler as he walked towards the field.  As I watched him stop and just look out over the field, the field where he will play next year, my heart and head started swimming with emotion.  Pride. Love. Sadness. Adoration.  Apprehension.  Excitement. Loneliness.  Overwhelmed. 

He turned to me and smiled and said, “I love this view, mom.  I love this field. I can’t wait to play here next year.”  And at that point the only emotion I felt was extreme happiness for my son. 

I whispered, “This is the beginning of your future…….”

Both mine and his.