Down to Just the Four of Us (Again)

We took Hannah back to Penn State yesterday.  Physically, it was pretty uneventful.  We got there early enough that we beat the heat and the traffic jams on campus.  We had just one accident with the dolly (and it wasn't even Hannah's stuff that was on the dolly when it fell over).  The only injury I suffered was a small puncture wound on my finger when I was pulling the packing off of her new mirror.  It bled a bit but, compared to the "incident" I had with the drill last summer, it was no big deal.

Hannah's room, while still small, seems a bit bigger than last year.  All her stuff fit in it pretty easily.  In fact, once she gets rid of all the gifts she assembled this summer for her little sister, I think she may even have some extra space.

So, there were no big mishaps.  But, it was still hard to say good-bye.  Hannah really loves  Penn State.  Dropping her off this year was quite a bit different for me than it was last year.  Back then, I remember leaving with many questions:

• Will she get along with her roommate?  Turns out the answer to that was "no" but she got past that speed bump.
• Will she have fun?  Can you believe I asked myself that?  Looking back now, I laugh when I think I really wondered if she'd have fun.
• Will she stay out of trouble?  I believe the answer to this one was "yes" but do I really know the real answer?  Do I want to know?
• How will she do with her classes?  Hmmm.  Let's just say that, other than the couple she dropped, she did just fine.
• Will she miss us?  That's right.  Selfishly, I wondered if she would even care that she was gone.

This year, when I said good-bye, I wasn't thinking about those sorts of things.  Instead, I was thinking of how confident Hannah became last year.  And, I was thinking that I'd only be dropping her off at school two more times.  After that, the next time I drop her off, it will be permanent.  I know she'll be ready for that when the time comes.  Yesterday, I could sense that in her.  I wonder about myself, though.  I've got some growing up to do in the next couple years if I'm going to be ready.