update

We made it to New Jersey just fine, and Fiona's at university. Our trip here was not exactly as planned. When we got to Charlotte on Monday night, we found out that the Amtrak rail line was underwater at Trenton, NJ, so our train trip fromPhiladelphia to Newark was cancelled. I got on the phone in the middle of the night and booked a rental car at Philadelphia Airport. Fiona and I drove from Philadelphia up to Montclair, with a stop at Walmart in Secaucus on the way to pick up her bedding and other stuff that she had ordered online. We made it to the university around 6:30pm and met her roommate and her roommate's mom, and bless them at the residence, they allowed Fiona to move in that night even though we arrived a couple of hours late. The girls' room is quite spacious, with a wonderful view of the Manhattan skyline and the Empire State building out their window. They stayed up and got it all set up that first night. It's really cute. Their suitemates (2nd year students) will move in this weekend.

I got a chance to meet some of the other moms. One of them has started a Montclair MT Moms facebook group, which is nice. Fiona has been spending her nights in her new home while I go home to the hotel each night. We've been running errands and visiting friends and family who live in the area. There's also been time for sightseeing and shows. We saw Book of Mormon on Thursday evening, and Follies this afternoon. Fiona and her friends met Bernadette Peters at the stage door.

My days visiting the university campus help me know that it is a good place where Fiona will be safe and welcome. The other students who I have met are lovely young adults. We are leaving her in a good place.

I have one more day before I fly home. Fiona and I said goodbye this evening. We'll talk on the phone but I won't see her again until Christmas. I feel sad, proud and confident. This is the beginning of Fiona's adult life, and a new shape for our family.

question: have you been on a journey of change recently?

mompoet - saying goodbye (we made it!)