College Drop-off, Take Six

My hands clenched in white-knuckled tension around the steering wheel of the U-haul as Daniel and I carefully cruised the Boulder streets on our way to move William into his new apartment. I exhaled gustily when I turned the corner into his street and saw my daughter standing and waving in the nearby parking spot she had reserved for us. She lives two buildings over and had volunteered to help with moving. 

We successfully unloaded with the help of multiple sets of roommates, Aden waving at friends and performing introductions as we carried in mattresses and headboards, coffee tables and kitchen appliances. I blessed the luck that put William's apartment only one flight up, and we managed to unload and return the U-Haul within a few hours. Then Daniel went to work assembling a desk and coffee table while William and I unpacked the dresser and side table in his bedroom.

The apartments are spacious and each person has their own room; a much easier setup than the dorms. William now has to feed himself, which will be interesting, but at least his sister is close by. The toaster, rice-maker, blender, microwave, kettle and coffee pots standing at attention on the kitchen counters should also help. I didn't have that many appliances (or room for them) until I had been married for five years. 

Exhausted, we fell into bed early on Saturday night, a good thing since wake-up the next morning came at 4:30am. My last tri team race of the season was an all-women race held about an hour north at a reservoir and park in Longmont. I carpooled with the other coaches and set up the group tent, counseled nervous first-timers, and cheered on our group as they successfully navigated the legs of the sprint tri. My eyes welled up at the mother-daughter duos that ran, the 80-year-old finishing on her birthday, the brothers, husbands, boyfriends and fathers of the women who ran through the transition area holding their phones high as they recorded the athlete while simultaneously screaming and cheering and exhorting them on. 

The overall impression from the busy weekend was of the importance of community, friends and family. "Many hands make light work" may be dated and trite - but it's still true. We had help moving in and we volunteered our strained backs and weary arms to move in other roommates and friends. On Saturday, as our family ate takeout on William's newly assembled kitchen table, we felt grateful for the mutual support. Rob and I high-tailed it out quickly after dinner, wanting to leave the kids to their new lives and confident that they were in (their own) good hands.