Here’s a photo of our second child, Peter, taken just a short while ago:

And here’s a shot of him from yesterday:

We dropped him off at college, at Ohio University. Abandoned him, really, at the tender age of 18.

Our oldest goes to school in town, so Peter is the first one to be truly “away” at college. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive, but it seems light years away.

I know he’ll be fine; it’s the rest of us that I’m worried about. Peter is a “glue guy” as the sportscasters like to say. Easygoing, funny, gets along with everyone. A straight arrow. And more than happy to chauffeur his two younger siblings around. With him gone, the sibling dynamic will change, and the family fabric will be altered. We’ll all have to adjust to life sans Pedro.

I know it’s just the first in a series of goodbyes, of slowly but surely letting go… but that doesn’t make it any easier.

How many days until Parents Weekend?