the bittersweetness that is late August and early September
September 4, 2005During the last session of a day-long orientation for parents at Cal, the student leader for our group read an account of a family’s long drive to deliver their student to Berkeley. Happy and excited at the outset, they were enthusiastic and full of jokes and affectionate teasing.
As they got closer, the mood changed. It got quieter. As they pulled up to the dorm, they were silent. Separation loomed very close, and it was awful.
Most of the moms in the room cried. Even the ones who were veterans at this kind of thing.
You’re so very proud they got in. You’re so heartbroken that they got in, and are leaving you.
