“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” – Dr. Seuss. As I dropped my daughter off for college this week in London, I couldn’t have found better words to capture how I feel.
For those who have been following, my daughter completed her junior year of high school in Italy. This week we dropped her off for her freshman year at the London Campus of Northeastern University.
This time it’s different and she knows what to expect because of her experience in Italy (and she spoke zero Italian when she moved to Italy so London). But there is no host family. This experience has no parental guard rails like before. And based on the group chat of parents, many of these kids have continued to have lots of supervision and I hope they enjoy the freedoms now presented. Responsibly of course.
I also feel comforted by her street smarts. When in Italy, at 17, she and a friend or two would travel during the breaks without supervision or anyone helping them purchase train or bus tickets (they were not allowed to use Uber) to cities like Venice, Milan, Turin, Florence, Genoa, Palmero, and many cities around the Amalfi Coast. This summer, a few friends she had met in Italy planned a trip and presented us with a spreadsheet showing VRBOs, trains, planes, buses, etc that they had booked independently. Morgan did a great job with a budget and planning, so off she went to Amsterdam, and then a few cities in France and Italy. They ended the trip with a few nights with their old host families. I love that independence but also am grateful she does not tell me about some of the issues until she returns (bus ticket issue in Paris which had her running alone with her large suitcase and backpack to another station at 4 am).
It’s funny that my daughter – who is now 19 – from junior year to now has been legal in three countries and illegal in the States. When she returns in May, she’ll return to the illegal track until she turns 21. Thankfully we taught her that drinking is not a sport, it should enhance life. I’m sure she’ll have some moments, but she appears to have a great group of women surrounding her. I did have to point out a few decent bottles of prosecco as I want her to drink the better stuff if given a choice.
Today was the usual move in madness. We visited Argos, which is like a Target without merchandise out front. You order through computer screens and there is a warehouse in the back where your order is fulfilled. We had a miscommunication on bedding size so we returned to fix that error (and like Target, we bought a ton more). Of course, we had to get Amazon Prime activated, but for the first time in the U.K. and it isn’t linked to us other than my credit card.
And, there seemed to be some miscommunication on move in dates. She stayed at another London School until her new place was ready. Which is how I found myself with two big suitcases to take back to Dallas. Let’s say I was deemed that crazy American by several flight attendants and I ended up taking an Uber to the terminal (worth every pound spent).
While she has her own room and bathroom, the London campus doesn’t have a college meal plan, so she’s on her own. She cooks better than I do and London has so many amazing food choices, so she should be in good shape. She has a budget, but it’s things beyond our norm – like laundromats, so it’s hard to set until she knows more.
The joy of being ready for college and the opportunities ahead for her make this much easier. But also knowing that this marks a new chapter of adulthood makes it hard. Closing this with a perfect quote from an unknown author, “letting you go is hard, but seeing you grow is my greatest joy.” I can’t wait to see what is next.
