All Good Things Come to an End

Unfortunately, all good things eventually DO come to an end ... but I suppose their transitory nature helps make them that much more precious.  A week before Christmas I flew down to Baltimore, MD to spend a few days with our son Noah at  Johns Hopkins University, where he is a student.  While he was finishing up with finals, projects and research papers, I was in my glory, keeping myself busy by going to museums and book stores. Heaven!! I slept on his dorm room floor each night and had a thoroughly fantastic time.  We broke up the 12-hour drive back to New Hampshire by spending a few days at my mom's house in New York. There were Christmas parties to attend, my brother's birthday to celebrate, and a visit from my sister who lives in Florida. Since our return back to the Lodge, Noah has been home with us as 'part of the family', just like in the old days (before college!). And for the last month he has been working at his old job, the facial recognition company where he is a software engineer. But today the inevitable happened as he left for his return to college. I was up at 5:00 making him sandwiches and snacks for the long drive, helped him pack up his car, and at 6:30 am stood waving in the dark as I watched his taillights drive out completely of sight. Sigh!  It has been a wonderful interlude of having Noah back. It won't happen too many more times before his worklife and future marriage intervene, but until then,  I always cherish every moment!