A Family Milestone

18 years and 5 months ago, the last thought that crossed my mind would be the day that Katherine would move away from home to go to college. Vicki and I typically hung with the older people in our wards. They would always talk about how these times go by so quickly. I acknowledged their sentiments while thinking to myself that they were a bit dramatic. No more.

Yesterday, Katherine packed all her worldly belongings. When she had finished boxing everything, Ben made the observation that Katherine had less stuff than we had Christmas decorations. Vicki asked if he thought we should get rid of the Christmas decorations. That was a silly thing to say. He thought we should get Katherine more "stuff". She liked that.

Early this morning, with the car full of gas and "stuff", Katherine and Vicki were ready to make the trip to Provo. Ben sneaked outside and waited. Katherine came out a few minutes later and when she looked at him, he waved his hankie and sang "God be with you till we meet again." They laughed, they hugged, and they lipped some secrets word to each other that they didn't want the parents to hear. Katherine climbed in the car, Vicki started it up and they drove off, leaving me at home to deal with mixed emotions of joy for her decisions and emptiness for the loss of her stories given in great detail, her laughter and music.