Marking Time

Amazing how time moves so quickly. The less we have of it, the faster it goes. Explain that to me from the laws of physics.

Today his mother and I make the journey with our Number Two Son to his new college home. School doesn’t start for another 15 weeks or so, but this is the day he registers for his classes and gets oriented to the life of a collegian.

It’s not a long journey. Stephen has chosen a school not far from where we now live, George Fox University. And yet, though the miles are few, the distance from home to that dorm and campus life is a very giant step. For him and for us. You’d think that having done this already with our Firstborn, we’d be prepared this time around. Sure, we know the routine. But the heart, I sense, is never going to be ready. No sense putting it off.

The university calls it “Genesis,” this day of orientation, when future students and their parents learn the ropes of college life. Genesis, a time of fresh beginnings.

Life is a trail (and a trial, too, sometimes!) – as much as we’d like for time to stand still, there is only this incessant moving on. The important thing is to savor each step, each turn in the path. So we’ll savor this one as well, his mother and I, including the pains of separation and the thrills of expectation.