i forgot about these

Last year when the oldest was choosing colleges, one of them was on the other side of the country with a very aggressive program and intense schedule. We knew if she wound up there, we would not see her during the semester, possibly not for Thanksgiving, and only a few days for Christmas.

As I was putting the Christmas stuff away, I realized that this Christmas was one of the "lasts" for us. For the first time it hit me that she would be graduating, and the possibilities she had to choose from was overwhelming to me. I was missing her already.

I put some ornaments in one of the leftover cookie tins to send to her - wherever she was the next year. I put the tin back in with the rest of the decorations and packed them away. This year, when I pulled  them out, there was the tin on top.

As it turns out, she chose the college 45 minutes away and is home nearly every weekend, but the sense of "lasts" has not gone away.