Well Done

It's very hard for me to believe that our daughter has just finished her first year of college. I can hardly believe she's even old enough to go to college, let alone already done with her freshman year.

Last August when it was time to take her to Indiana, I needed the biggest towels I could find to mop up all of her tears. While we knew she would love college, she was far from certain of it and too fearful to believe our words of assurance. And of course, we hoped and prayed that it would be everything we knew it could be for her, because in reality she didn't have a Plan B.

We expected a prolonged adjustment period, complete with the tearful "come get me" calls that everyone told us to expect. But we had none of that. By the time she finished unpacking her bags, we could tell she was going to love it at Indiana University.

Marching band provided an immediate sense of accomplishment, months of hard work, and -- most importantly -- a whole group of great friends.

She's had incredible professors and challenging classes. On the few lucky occasions we've heard her play, we can tell that she's already grown leaps and bounds as a musician. Even if she weren't my daughter, I would say with complete confidence that she's going to be a terrific music educator.

When it's time to move her back home for the summer, I guarantee that I'll be mopping up her tears again. But I'll gratefully wipe away every one of them, including a few of my own. I could not be happier that her first year of college turned out to be all we dreamed for her and much, much more!