"Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." -Kahlil Gibran

All the late nights and early mornings, all the laughter and the tears and the listening, all the teaching and the reading and the singing, all the joy and the heartache, and it all seems to come down to this moment.  (I know that's not really true - I suppose a better way to say it is that now everything will be different and what this moment is about is the beginning of the separation that will be complete when Kyeti has a different place that she calls home...)

At the beginning of last week we helped to move our one and only daughter into college. Kyeti was excited and, maybe, a tiny bit nervous but the overall feel was of her forging ahead (even as she waited in line for an hour and a half to get bed-parts for her dorm-room). And me, I was excited and apprehensive and proud but with this overall feeling of dragging my feet and wanting everything to slow down... (even as i ran from car to dorm-room carrying boxes and books and bits of clothing and from dorm-room to car with empty cartons and returning too-big-for-the-space furniture - trying to unload as quickly as possible so I could move the car out of the way of the hundreds of other dads and daughters and sons wanting to do the same thing).  But, of course, then it was over and all the movement and rushing and carrying and jockeying for position was someone else's activity and so it faded into the background. We ate, we talked, we joked, we laughed, and then all we had left to do was to say goodbye... and so we did (as succinctly as we could but it didn't stop the tears).  

Then leaving for home and marveling at it all. It was a delicious and wonderful adventure and now here's the thing.....  I am curious curious curious about what is coming next..... 

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Image notes:

I certainly don't expect this relatively simple image to hold the power for you that it does for Penny and me. This was literally the last image I had of Kyeti as she walked up to meet a friend on campus just before the two of us headed back home.  

It was the morning after move-in day, We had said our goodbye's about two hours earlier. Then a walk around campus, the bookstore, a wander to the administration building, and finally back to the car. We had parked close to Kyeti's dorm and as we walked down the long sidewalk to the car who should appear but the girl herself heading back to upper campus. We laughed, called and had one more brief hug and she continued on. I snapped a few images of Kyeti walking away. It was a moment like no other I've ever had and I wanted to say something but, really, there was nothing to say...  I watched for a moment and turned, paused, and turned once more for a last glance - if Kyeti turned back to look, I missed it - But, still, I had this lovely feeling of confidence and warmth and a smile.  

Cheers.