A Special Birthday

Hello,

This was a very challenging week. I'm not sure I could possibly cover all of the details. Plus I'm sure you would rather me not try. Sorry I need to write all of this down, so one day I can look back and laugh! If you don't have time to read this blog I will understand.

Last Saturday night, late in the evening we took off for St. Louis. Our van was so packed full with Keegan's belongings, we could not see out the rear window. Poor Keegan hardly had room to sit. We took all of the seats out except hers. We arrived at Wash U early Sunday morning. We realized that the handle on the hatch door had broken. Probably happened when we put the bike rack on the van. Needless to say...we had to unload everything from the side door!! (not cool) BUT it gets better...Keegan and I went to check out her dorm before we started hauling everything in and found out she is on the 4th floor and NO elevator. "WHAT?? You mean it doesn't work today, No... there is no elevator in her building!!" Luckily a few very nice students helped us carry her stuff up to her room.

One thing good, Keegan won't need to join an exercise program, she will be keeping in shape by running up and down all those stairs umpteen times a day and riding her bike all over the campus.

Her room is an ok size. Not big, but not too small. Wash U furnished the room with a temprapedic bed, a very comfortable office chair with arms, the closet has a built in dresser, a large desk and a couple of book shelves. We raised her bed up about 4 feet from the floor, so we were able to put those plastic drawers and cubicles under her bed for extra storage. We also bought a stand to put her printer on so she can wheel out the printer when she needs it. It was amazing how much she could store under her bed. She shares her room with 1 other girl (Valeta from Cincinnati, Ohio). She has a very soft voice, sweet, tiny and beautiful. She is also a Christian. There are 4 other girls that are her suite mates. All 6 girls will share a good size, double sink bathroom and a very large furnished living room. On 1 side of the living room it is all window with a sliding glass door. They can go outside and sit on their deck if they want. A cleaning lady will clean their living room and bathroom, also keep their toilet paper supplied. The girls have to clean their own bedrooms. How nice is that?

I had ordered a refrigerator while I was in Wichita from Walmart to be delivered to the Walmart in St. Louis. I was so proud of how smart that seemed at the time. The only thing is it wouldn't be delivered until Fri that week. We were crossing our fingers it would come in before we had to leave the city.

Keegan went to Camp Wyman about an hour from SL with 21 other Wash U scholars. They had a fun time. They went rock climbing, and Canoed down the river. In the evening they had several events planned. One night they were put into groups, they had 1 flashlight and had to follow a map to find many hidden locations in the dark. It was a race to see what group could finish 1st. She said it was very creepy in the woods and they got lost several times. But it was still fun!

Meanwhile we were still in SL buying necessities for Keegan that I hadn't bought in Wichita. Plus returning items that I did buy, but couldn't use in her dorm. Poor David, I don't think he will ever want to go shopping again. We drove so many miles. It will probably get easier each time we are there and know our way around. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, for some stupid reason both back side doors on the van quit working. They are power doors, so they were extremely hard to open and close by hand. By the end of the trip we could only open one door with very hard force. Ugh :/

After Keegan and her group came back, Wash U had invited the 22 students and their parents to a very nice restaurant for dinner. We met her Dean and many other people. They definitely accomplished their goal sending these kids to a camp to get to know each other better. It was so neat to see all of these new friends that Keegan had made. I was so proud of her I thought I was going to burst. I just sat back and thoroughly enjoyed watching Keegan. I knew then, for sure she was going to be ok.

Once they were back on the campus, their schedules were filled with activities. So filled that Keegan didn't have much time to be with her boring parents anymore!! Do I sound pathetic? Should I call the Whaaambulence? I think so. We felt like chopped liver :( It was pretty hard just waiting around for our daughter to want to hang out with us. We would have left SL, but that stupid refrigerator hadn't arrived yet. David and I did have a good time together when we finally decided to pay attention to each other instead of our little Matilda!

We decided to cut our trip short. But only by one day because Keegan said she wanted to hang out with us on her birthday (Saturday). Okay, Okay we will...

Finally Friday we went to pick up the refrigerator at Walmart. Before leaving the store we lifted the box up to make sure there was no damage. David held the box up while I walked around it looking for dents or any kind of damage. No way did we want to haul that thing up 4 flights of stairs and have a problem. We got back to the dorm, got a hand truck, David pulled the hand truck up each step, while Keegan lifted it from the bottom. (David said there were a total of 55 steps!!) We went into her living room lifted the box completely off....GUESS WHAT? The last few inches at the top of the fridge was crushed. AARRRRRHH.... I thought David and I were going to loose it. When we checked it out at the store, we didn't lift the box all the way off so we didn't see the damaged area. Maybe it would have worked, but we didn't want to take a chance since Keegan would have no vehicle to take it back. So you guessed it, back down the 55 steps, back to the store to return it. Of course because I ordered it Online, they couldn't give us our money back, it will be processed back to our bank acct in 3-5 days. So we decided to go to Home Depot instead. I befriended someone there and he promised me if Keegan had any problem at all he would help her get a new refrigerator. I was trying to save $50 by going to Walmart instead of Home Depot. What a valuable lesson. Whatever... now Keegan and her roommate have a new fridge. Her roomie bought the microwave!

Keegan called us on her 18th birthday and said she could have lunch with us. She wanted to be back to her dorm by 4 pm because her new friends wanted to throw her a party. We asked her where she wanted to have lunch. She said "The Cheesecake Factory". That's what we did and that's all she had. I have attached a picture. These are the only pictures I took on this trip. Whaaaaa.... I hate myself. Keegan would not let me take any pictures of her room. She claims she will send me some pics after her room is organized, yaw right!

After her birthday lunch we went back to the university. It was raining, so we walked together under my umbrella to the outside of her building where we hugged and said our goodbyes. I didn't drop a tear. I bit my lip as hard as I could, smiled, said I love you, and have a great time.

The drive home was very quiet. It rained most of the way. We picked up Dawson at his friends house around 11 pm. I missed Dawson soooo much and I think he missed us too. We went home and was greeted by Nike (our cat) who was VERY happy to see me.

I am missing our baby girl like crazy, but I am so happy for her. She has waited for this moment in her life for so long. She has dreamed about college I swear since she was in Jr high school when she made the decision to be apart of the International Baccalaureate Program. This was the reason why she worked so hard all these years. She is finally living her dream. I couldn't be more thrilled for her. I don't want to feel sorry for myself, nor have a pity party. I just want to enjoy her happiness. When your kids are happy so are you, right? I do have my moments, but then I think about the opposite, We did not raise our kids to sit on their butts and live at home with their mom and dad. We want them to explore, find out what's important to them, have adventures, make great memories, and who knows... maybe make a difference in other peoples lives and make changes in our country/world that it could be a better place to live.

Too much? Sorry, just had to vent/boast! Lots of emotions right now. I'm sure I will get used to this emptiness. Keegan has text me everyday to ask me what top to wear with the shorts she has picked out for the day! LOL, Oh and during this blog, she text me and said she cut herself and what should she do! (FYI-it didn't sound too serious) Funny huh? She will always need her mommy. I still call my mom with crazy questions. Wisdom is a gift!!

Keegan just called. She is between events and is walking back to her dorm. I'm so thankful for cell phones and that she thought of me to call. Although in the middle of our conversation she said "Oh I see someone I want to talk to, I'll call you back". Oh well, it was nice to hear from her for a little bit :D She said she is having nothing but fun so far. She even said she was hanging out with her friends last night until 3:15 am. Also said that she is not looking forward to school starting. She is perfectly content with waking up, going to breakfast and hanging out with her friends all day. Now the school has to go and ruin everything by making her go to class and start a rigorous routine. Oh-Oh, hope she gets that out of her system! I know I just sounded like a mom, huh? Can't help it, I am. She also said she just got an e-mail and has homework in her Irish Lit class that is due tomorrow. (1st day of school) Here we go again...

Because Keegan is always so busy, I have never asked her to read my blog, but one day she might. So this note is for her in the future. Happy Birthday Honey, I know you will always remember your 18th birthday as a very special day. I am so excited to see what you do with the rest of your life. This adventure is as much for your dad and I as it is for you.

Yes, I'm teared up :')   That's my happy tears picture.

There I'm finished. I think this is my longest blog ever.

Love to all of you. Thank you for your prayers. Please, plz, plz continue to pray for Keegan. I especially pray that she invites God to be with her every single moment during her exciting journey.

God bless you.

Love and miss you,
Marjie