By 
After a couple of days in South Dakota, which involved (on my part) unpacking, arranging, fluffing, and meticulously organizing Todd's dorm room (I'm sure it will stay that way, right??), Ladd and I finally hugged our youngest goodbye and left him at college today. I'd been anticipating the moment for months, and while it wasn't the hysterical cry-fest I feared it would be, it was absolutely, one hundred percent as excruciating as I'd imagined. Not to be a drama queen or anything. But oh...it hurt!
I did my best to put on a brave face, but my eyes were welling with tears and the lump in my throat felt like a watermelon.
We're gonna miss Todd. A lot. We've had a year-plus with just the three of us at home, and it's been such a wonderful year. He's just a dang pleasure to live with. No kid is perfect, including Todd, but he made things pretty easy for Ladd and me. Our family of three was just dandy! Haha.
Ladd and I are back home now. I walked into the house and went straight to Todd's room, and the tears started flowing immediately. There was an air mattress that was inflated in Todd's room about 90% of the time, for whichever of his good friends spent the night at the ranch on any given night of the week---Tyrel or Noah or Will or Trayven or Mason or John---and that made me cry harder. I let the air out of the air mattress, rolled it up, and put it in Todd's closet, then Ladd came in and saw me bawling and I told him in between sobs that I just deflated the air mattress for the last time and it was too much for me to take. Then I started laughing, which made me cry harder.
All of this said...I'm so excited for Todd.
He's got a great adventure ahead of him, between school and football and new friends and experiences, and Ladd and I will be his biggest cheerleaders. Be good to him, South Dakota! Make him wear his heavy coat!
I’m a desperate housewife, I live in the country, and I’m obsessed with butter, Basset Hounds, and Ethel Merman. Welcome to my frontier!
