And then there were 3...

Those are the words Lincoln said as we walked away from Greta on Tuesday late afternoon on American's campus. I've been trying to come up with something better ever since, but I'm not sure words work very well to convey what I'm feeling. The first 48 hours were a breeze as we had dinner with our friends the Humphreys in Falls Church and then spent a day in Harrisonburg, Va., biking the George Washington National Forest and hanging with Carey's pal Connie. But Thursday we drove home via Syracuse (to pick up Yeager) and I could feel a veil descending on my psyche. When we got home and all read the notes Greta left for us, Linc and I had a nice hug and a brief cry along the lines of, "It's OK, we're crying because we love her!"  It's funny -- my emotions have little to do with the fact that Greta isn't occupying space in our home for the first time in 18 years, but more along the lines of... what's my purpose now? OK, I'll support Lincoln and make him the best young adult I can until he follows his own path two years from now. And then what? As devoted parents, we spend so much time and energy focused on our kids for almost two decades, and then it's like someone throws a switch and powers everything down. I know I'll continue to work hard at my job and do things that I enjoy, but at the moment it feels sort of empty. Not quite meaningless, but in need of more meaning, I guess. I don't know. It's been my experience that time changes everything, physically and mentally, so I'll keep using this blog as a form of writing therapy and keep our 4-6 readers posted. In the meantime, you should know that Greta is in the honeymoon phase at college, meeting people and getting settled and looking ahead to the start of classes on Monday. Lincoln is at his first cross country practice as I type and Carey is cleaning for her form of therapy.

Wednesday's mountain bike ride took us past a "Dog Graveyard." Horrible photo, but there were creepy headstones just out of frame with pet names on them and some very short life spans.

At dinner with Connie Frigo, Ithaca class of 1994 with Carey, and now the executive director of the X-Labs at James Madison University.

Among her direct reports, the director of eSports at JMU! Linc enjoyed seeing their gaming arena. It's not a scholarship "sport" yet, but they sure are spending money on it!

That's Mikey in the headband, director of eSports at JMU. Like us, he never thought that would be a job when he was growing up playing Rocket League with friends online.

Distinctions won by the JMU eSports team, including a "National Championship" last fall playing Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, one of the first-person-shooter strategy games Lincoln plays with friends.