Amanda Lamb: Countdown to college

You’ve seen the pictures on Facebook. The collages of smiling college students and their newly-appointed dorm rooms.

There is the required shot of the smiling student on his or her bunk with its new comforter and matching throw pillows. There is usually an awkward forced pose with the new roommate, a potential friend or foe. And, of course, there is the mandatory pose of the teen in between his or her beaming parents.

In five days, I will be posting such a collage. It’s hard to believe that the day is almost here. Sure, we’ve been packing, planning and talking about the logistics of the transition. But what about the emotional transition?

What will it feel like to be a family of three on a daily basis? What will it feel like to walk by her empty bedroom where I am so used to seeing her under the covers engrossed in a Netflix marathon? What will it feel like not to know exactly where she is or what she is doing every single moment?

The answer is that I don’t know the answers to these questions. I do know that they will be answered in due time. Transitions in life are never easy, even when they are welcome.

For the next five days, we will be four, and then we will drive north, set up her dorm room, take photos, and eventually, after half a dozen trips to Walmart to get the items we forgot or didn’t even know we needed, we will say our goodbyes.

On the way home in the car, I will make my collage and post it on Facebook, and I will cry, I know that for sure.

There will be tears because I will miss her. There will be tears of pride for how well she turned out despite my imperfect parenting. There will be tears of joy for a life that’s limitless - still unwritten, full of hope and possibilities.

They will be healthy tears, tears that reveal how much she is loved ...