This is for Dee, and anyone else that isn't sick of my silly sad stories (and because it seems funny now).
After the first day's tears in the college bathroom, with that other mom reaching out, "I don't know what's wrong, but someone needs a hug…," I did manage to hold myself together for the most part during the next couple of days (in public, anyway). Until the last moments.
(First, you need to know that I had brought along a frozen macaroni & cheese on the trip. It was for, and on a dare from, my sister. The blue-iced, wrapped in newspaper, paper bags and zip locked package had been handed over to the front desk of the campus hotel upon arrival, to be stored in their back freezer.)
So, bags in the car, last goodbyes with Blue were said (wept), and it was time to head to the airport. I went to the front desk to retrieve the mac & cheese. Two women were working, one in her sixties, the other twenty-something. I opened my mouth, closed it, tried again, and began to cry, again. The older woman came from around the desk saying, "I'm not sure what's wrong, but we can help you with it, and let's start with a hug!" (Are mid-western women trained to say this?")
I finally blubbered, "I just said goodbye to my son, and it's so far, and I'm so sad, and I really just came for the mac & cheese…" Mid-hug, the woman said, "I know what to do! I need paper and pen!" The younger one handed over paper and pen, a box of tissues, and set off for the freezer (clearly her training is going well.) Comforting woman wrote down her name, address, and phone number, saying that she would be our mom away from home, if Blue needed anything, or I wanted to mail him a package, or just talk to another mom in Ohio, that she lived nearby and the hotel was open 24 hrs a day (his dorm is right next door to the hotel), if either of us needed anything, . . . She was the nicest person!
Honestly, I am not usually such a hugger or a crier, but that's how it went. I hugged both of them with gratitude, took my macaroni and left, knowing there are some very kind people in Ohio.
