Here we go again

Today begins Graduation Week for #2. Many of you have asked how she’s doing; while I appreciate your love and care for her, that is completely the wrong question. She’s fine. She’s young. She’s resilient. The better question is how is the mom holding up? And the answer is: it depends.

Like, when I’m sleeping, I’m good. No worries. Yay for six hours of dry eyes!

Pretty much every other moment of the day I’m a freak show of emotions. Some hours I am perfectly rational. Others, the mere mention of anything related to graduation or college and my eyes well up. For instance, I’m sitting in McDonald’s while Rebecca is in her math class and I’m teary just typing that sentence.

Yes, I’m ridiculous. I know. I know.

I keep reminding her that just because I’m a crying mess doesn’t mean I’m not totally excited about her moving on with her life. I really, really am. And this time I have a better idea of what that will look like since we’ve lived through her older brother heading off to school.

I also keep reminding her that we’ll be seeing her a whole lot. Her major is music theater and because she’s going to school pretty close to us, we’ll come see all her shows. I imagine me borrowing a big ol’ van, loading it up with lots of her friends and road tripping the hour north to see whatever show she’s in.

You cannot believe how excited she is about that idea…

My Mom’s already here. Dad comes Wednesday. And on Friday, Sean’s parents, as well as aunts and uncles and cousins from Arizona, Pennsylvania, New York, South Carolina, Illinois, Ohio and Georgia will arrive. And the party will begin. And I’ll laugh and cry and be a mess all weekend.

Believe it or not, I’m really looking forward to it.

I'll just be sure to keep a stash of tissues nearby.