Reality Sinks In

So what does one do once they have dropped their daughter off at the airport to leave on her mission?
Panic, of course!
How would I know if she made it to the MTC.  She didn’t have a phone . .
she left that with me.

I could check online, but I wasn’t so sure it would give arrival status . . .
There was no way she could write in time to calm my worried mom’s heart . . .

She did, however, have an awesome friend who texted me this photo right before she went into the MTC!

And the following day, I found this online.

Phew!  She made it safely. 

A Day Too Soon . . .

Because Allie wanted to fly out a day early, I had to suck it up and get her where she needed to go.
We printed out her boarding pass . ..

She half-heartedly attempted to finish all the things she was supposed to before she left on her mission . . .

She made sure she said goodbye to the puppy . . .

and decided she didn’t really want breakfast and settled for a beverage.

We arrived at the airport. . .curbside . . and unloaded her suitcases . .

hugged her, armed her with her “breakfast” . . .

walked away . . .

and drove away . . .with tears streaming down my face.

Sending off your oldest is hard; the second one is no easier, but sending off the youngest is really difficult because there is no one else left.