Tears

This may pertain to the girls more than the boys because for some reason society has geared the male population to not show emotion in front of others, which I think is silly. Anyhow, when your parents dropped you off for college and helped you move in, did they cry when they left? Or better yet, did your mom cry? I know mine did and this is my second year. Not only did she get emotional at that time, she gets a little upset every time she leaves, and to be truthful, so do I. But I am one of those people that will cry when I see someone else is really upset or will laugh when I don’t even know what is funny!

One of my apartment mate’s parents came to visit this weekend for a sorority event and the morning they left, her mom started to tear up and was stalling so she wouldn’t have to leave. The dad looked and the mom and said ‘Oh come on, no crying, we’ll see her soon.” It is true that we go home and see our parents every once in a while and we talk to them on the phone regularly. But that doesn’t seem to make things any easier because we still don’t see them everyday, and for some of us, the change is drastic and takes a while to get used to. I know that every time I go home, it gets harder and harder for me to come back to school and I have no idea why. I think it might be because I realize I am that much closer to entering the real world and I have to go back to paying bills again and all that jazz. Then when my mom tears up or gets a frog in her throat and says “I’ll see ya later sweetie, be careful” I know it’ll be a while before I see her again and I don’t like it at all. Part of that may be because I can sense her sadness and it radiates to me. That always seems to make the drive a little longer.

But on the flip side, I do enjoy the freedom of not having parents around all the time to check up on me and I don’t have to ask permission to go somewhere or any of that. I know the situation of being on my own and taking care of myself is overwhelming but I welcome the challenge because I know I can’t ride my parent coat tails all my life. It may be hard or sad at times, but I have to suck it up and deal with it! When my mom leaves and she wants to cry, but won’t, I know she too has realized its part of the process, and crying isn’t going to change that, is just makes it a little harder. So how do you feel about parents getting emotional, if yours even do? Does it make you a little sad too because they are leaving, or because you hate to see them upset? Or are you glad to be rid of them and on your own?!