Streams of Mercy

Group texting can be a special blessing. Last week-end one of my grandsons left for college. I texted his mother’s siblings and my brother to send words of encouragement to the new college student and his parents, and the sharing began.

I shared with them that it seemed like yesterday that I’d taken each of them to college, and how it seemed impossible my grandchildren are now making that journey. I spoke of how I felt when I made that trip with each of them – how hard it was to leave them to face the unknown, and to drive home to face an empty bedroom. I told my son that I missed him so much, I moped around for days, until one day his sisters reminded me, “Mom, we’re still here!” That set me straight for sure! My youngest daughter shared how much she missed her brother, and would watch television in his bedroom, just to feel closer to him.

At that point, my brother joined in the conversation and we spoke of how much we missed each other. I shared that I remembered sitting in his bedroom playing records – “Because,” by the Dave Clark Five, was one of his favorites, and listening to it always made me miss him more. A few minutes later he sent “Because” on YouTube for all of us to enjoy. I’m sure the children were rolling their eyes, but texts don’t reveal that, of course!

When I left for college, things were very different. Only upper class students were allowed to have cars on campus, and students were not able to go home to visit until fall break. We signed in and out of our dorms and had a 11:00 curfew. If we didn’t go to the library to study, we were in our rooms during “closed study hours” from 7-11, with a 9:00-9:30 break. As one who was often in the infirmary, parents got a call about that, as well as calls if we cut too many classes. I can’t imagine such restrictions working with students these days.

Bottom line, after all these trips down memory lane, it’s the daughter whose son is leaving for college that must have the final word. She texted all of us something she read earlier in the week about a college-bound child: “In the grand scheme of heartbreaking things, this one comes with a lot of gratitude and excitement.” So true, so very true.

Elizabeth