Our nest became empty last weekend with our daughter’s bittersweet move away to college that I call Lexi’s LA Launch. I haven’t blogged about my lastborn in a while. Unlike many mom bloggers, I chose not to post anything about our Class of 2020 child the last few months. 
Like many mom bloggers, we were experiencing a very different senior year than what we had been expecting and planning on for so long. Unlike our son, our daughter had a very different graduation than she had imagined after celebrating her big brother’s joyous celebrations in 2016.
With so many disappointments (lost prom, lost senior spirit week, lost senior breakfast, lost graduation, etc., etc.) she chose to look forward to her college days that were set to kick off with a dorm move-in in late August.
Due to the Covid situation we canceled the graduation party, so we celebrated quietly with a few simple backyard pictures to celebrate Lexi’s exciting college acceptance.
During these last few months, I blogged a lot less and decided to be present a lot more. We took in the moments of a forced worldwide home quarantine. Our girl called it the long goodbye. I liked that description. So that is what we did. We hugged. We ate. We watched movies. We swam laps. We existed. We caught our breath as we prayed for the world and endured the uncertain times along with everyone else.
As the summer wore on we received the news that our daughter’s new college, LMU (Loyola Marymount University) in Los Angeles would not be able to open safely so classes were to be held online. This was a big disappointment. The dorm life our girl had been dreaming about, in the city she wanted to move to since grade school, was not to be quite yet.
So, we came up with a brilliant (and lucky) Plan B. She would still get to move to LA and her roomie would be…her big brother! Funny how life works out sometimes. Living in LA was not his big dream since grade school. His big dream since grade school was to be a sports journalist so when his summer internship with the LA Times turned into a job offer, we were all thrilled. And how fitting that his new city became Los Angeles. Our kids are close so this was a good plan.
Spring 2019 – the night that our son told us that he was offered the LA Times internship. He would be moving to LA. Little did we know…:)
LA took my kids and I could not be happier as this was the perfect way to make the best of things.
So last weekend we moved that girl of ours to LA to live with that boy of ours. It was a smooth move. Here is a short video of how it went.
We are now empty nesters. My next post will share some insight on how I prepared for that transition both before and now. I am living it and adjusting each day. Several of my friends have asked me to share what that has been like for me. So I will tomorrow.
And then my blog’s focus will shift from raising kids to what I’m calling quick tips. I have lots of quick tips, easy recipes and all around good stuff to share. Simple stuff to help our manic lives be a little more managed. And lots of giveaways so stay tuned!
In the meantime, happy new chapter to our girl. To us. And to all — keep hanging in there. These tough times have touched our family members in many ways. 2020 has been humbling for so many.
All we can all do is take it day by day, pray for those who need prayers the most and exist. Exist, breathe and cherish the moments. All of them. The ordinary ones. The extraordinary ones. And the moments that challenge us…hang in there.
And happy college days to many young adults I happen to know who are navigating an unprecedented college experience. I go from saying Go Class of 2020 to Go Class of 2024!
