My baby girl left today to go back to college. It was so hard. It was harder this time than it was when she left in August. My house feels really quiet. I know she’s not going to be walking back through the door tonight and I’m so sad. I’m so glad that she loves college. There is nothing I wanted more for her than to have an amazing college experience. She loves Albany most of the time. She’s just my girl.

I remember saying to my mother years ago my goal would be to create a relationship with my daughter like I have with you as my mother. I wrote to my mother today and I said I created that relationship. I would say the biggest difference between my relationship with my mom and my relationship with my daughter is I made my relationship with my daughter earlier and stronger than maybe made it with my mom. I think I was a little older when my mom became my friend as well as my mom. My daughter and I reached that point where we are both. It’s been us for a long time and she knows I have her back and I know she has mine.

I’m writing this as the screensaver on my TV is flashing pictures. If the picture isn’t the dogs chances are it’s the two of us. I hope she has another amazing semester. I hope she has a lot of laughs with a group of friends that she adores and adores her. I hope she does really well academically. Most of all I hope she knows that her mother loves her more than anything else in the world.