Elijah Going to College - August 14, 2021

 August 10:

Tomorrow is the start of a new school.  Simon is starting 6th grade, so he's officially a middle schooler.  Anna is starting high school.  And Elijah is leaving for college.

Anna went to soar day at volcano vista this morning.  Susie dropped her off and was emotional when she saw the huge crowd of students that she sent Anna off to.  

Elijah leaves for school in the morning to participate in the honors program.  Then he starts classes next Wednesday.  He will stay at school for the week and Susie and I will visit on Saturday to visit and help with last minute moving into the dorm.  

This afternoon when he told me his schedule and that he will be able to move into the dorm from 8 am to 5 pm it hit me that he really is going off to school...  Our first child is moving out of the house for the first time for good.  

Quite a mix of emotions this week.  It shoud be a fairly easy week but an emotional week for all of us.  Especially since we have not been really in school for about 17 months due to Covid.  Hopefully there will not be outbreaks and the school year will go smoothly.  

August 13:

The first days of a new school year have come and went.  I have very small class sizes this year, a couple classes small than 15 students!  Crazy.  The students are pretty respectful so far.  However, I am having a hard time adjusting my body back to the 5 hours of being 'on' that each day requires.  

Elijah made it down and I have heard from him for a brief few moments.  He called and said he hasn't met anyone yet that he thinks he'll be good friends with.  He said the first days were fine but he didn't appreciate the pep rally atmosphere sometimes.  I'm so looking forward to the visit tomorrow, with both Susie and seeing Elijah.  

Anna's high school has gotten off to a good start.  It sounds like she is really engaging in class.  She gets up early and is ready to go.  She has reconnected with several acquaintances and I think it is nice for her to have familiar faces at her school.  

Simon is loving his new teacher.  

Mihika has not attended because the bus has not been able to pick her up yet.  We're really hoping it is arranged sooner than later.  Hopefully by next week.  

August 16:

Susie and I visited Elijah at NMSU on Saturday.  I was looking forward to the trip so much and it didn't disappoint.  Susie and I left the house at 7:40 and we talked and enjoyed our coffee.  We talked about the kids and church friends during the 3 1/2 hour drive, though we didn't talk about our relationship the time together was good.  

We met Elijah outside his dorm and he asked if we could go to the store right away.  It was so neat to see him walking out of his dorm to greet us.  So grown up and still so humble and so immediately comfortable with Susie and me.  A great picture of what family should be.  

We went to target and had lunch at Canes chicken.  He talked about the Christian clubs he had interacted with and how most of the Christians annoyed him because of their pretenses of being a friend to the new Fresh-meat recently arriving on campus.  He did mention that the Presbyterian group seemed pretty nice.  

Afterward, we took the stuff up to his room and met his roommate Joshua.  Elijah described him as an arrogant guy that always manages to bring the conversation back to his so-called amazing family or himself.  Elijah's dorm room has a unique setup in that his door goes directly outside to the landing.  The room feels spacious enough with the bunk beds over their desks even though it is actually quite small.  

After seeing his room we walked around campus together to see the bookstore, the chapel, and various other buildings.  We also got to meet Jonathan and other staff of the Presbyterian campus ministry.  We talked about Rich Mullins and generally enjoyed meeting them.  

Finally, it was time to say goodbye.  After jumpstarting the van we took Elijah back to the dorm and mom said goodbye (I said goodbye earlier before the van situation.)  We watched him head back to the dorm into the open area and that was the last we saw of him until sometime down the road.  Thinking about it now makes me more emotional than it was in the moment.  I guess I feel that way because of the pride I feel for how great a young man he has become.  Susie said she cried a few tears on the drive home.  I didn't cry but I listened to Billy Joel over and over.  I think a big reason for that is because he is one of Elijah's favorite musicians and I wanted to hold on to that since we can't hold onto Elijah anymore like we have been able to for the last 18 years.  

August 24:

It has now been two weeks since Elijah left for college.  We think of him every day and miss him every day.  It is not a deep longing or something that fills us with grief.  More of a dull ache because we miss the bright light that he brought to our family.  The engaging conversation at dinner or at bed time.  The small conversations on the drive to church or just hearing him walk through the door in the evenings.  

He has found a wonderful space at school with the Reformed Christian group and we couldn't be happier for him.  He has more than earned this time to enjoy his life and the community that he is becoming a part of.  I don't hear from him often but what I do hear gives me deep satisfaction that he is shaping his own life into a beatiful new story.