Truth-be-told, we went through a record number of Kleenex this week. But there was a quiet joy hidden behind the tears.
On Thursday, Mitzi and her husband said goodbye to their youngest as she flew off to start her life as an international student at a university in Europe. This was a dream Mitzi’s daughter has had and, despite what is understandably a difficult situation, she worked incredibly hard to make it come to fruition…Mitzi and her family couldn’t be more proud.
The quiet triumph I got to experience as I stood back at the airport, watching Mitzi and her husband watch their daughter walk through the security gate and onto her new great adventure left me teary, too. Two years ago, when I first started picking Mitzi up after she quit driving, she would talk about her hopes for her future in the face of Alzheimer’s. One of her greatest wishes at that time was just to be able to see her daughter (then a junior), graduate high school. It has been at the forefront of many of our conversations and what Mitzi has pushed herself to be able to achieve. Back when her daughter graduated a few months ago, Mitzi had hit a rough patch (likely due to the emotion of the graduation and impending changes), and it left me wondering how she would be when this day finally came.
Like I said, there were LOTS of tears shed this week. But they were filled with pride and a glad heart that Mitzi had been able to witness this incredible achievement of her daughter fulfilling a huge dream. And now, as Mitzi told me in the car on the way to the airport, “Let’s just see what the next chapter in the Life of Mitzi has in store!” ????
(By the way, the photo is of us—the Mom Squad, as we refer to ourselves when doing things with our kids—while we were having a farewell meal with her daughter. Out of respect for her kids’ privacy, I try to keep this blog centered around my experiences with Mitzi. Otherwise, you can be sure I would have posted the cute picture of the proud parents watching their daughter walk through security!).
