Over the past 3 and a half years my youngest kid (now 20) and I have spent so much time together. So very much time. We were together every single day of lockdown. And practically every day since.

We have moved through a lot over the past few years, not limited to, but including: long Covid, long grief, long depression, long anxiety. And we have moved through it all side by side.

As a result, I think we may have landed in an overly comfortable place of co-dependence. A Covid induced co-introversion.

She has been attending college mostly on-line. But as this summer began, she had decided to return to a full schedule of in-person classes in September. Back to the land of the living!

I tried to convince her to live on campus. She reluctantly applied for housing. But, she said that the only way she would dorm would be if she were to get a Single room. Knowing full well that the chances of getting a Single were very slim. She said ‘If it’s meant to be it will be.’

As July arrived, she was assigned a roommate. So she withdrew from housing. She was set on commuting.

Then, last Tuesday, with only one week left before the start of the semester, she received notice that a Single dorm room was available for her. The universe had spoken.

After a long walk together and some brief deliberation on her own, she made a decision. She clicked the ACCEPT button.

This was a big, bold step for my anxious, cautious, youngest child to take. She clicked the ACCEPT button.

And with that one click, she accepted change. She accepted uncertainty. She accepted possibility. She accepted a new future. She accepted the fact that she was ready, to move on, to spread her wings, and fly.

It’s meant to be.

So she will be moving out tomorrow.

I haven’t pushed the ACCEPT button yet.