This past weekend, I had the chance to take a road trip with my oldest daughter as we took a look at potential college choices for next fall.  On this trip, we traveled north to Rochester, NY – visiting the University of Rochester on Friday.  It was a day filled with walking around campus, getting a feel for the area, and it was also a chance for my eldest to actually attend a class and get a sense of what the next four years of her continued education was all about.

While being a successful weekend – college wise (she hasn’t made any firm decisions regarding her eventual choice yet, but Rochester is definitely on her application list and we are getting down to the finalists), I found it to be a good weekend just to spend with my eldest.  In these busy times of running here to there, with commitments of work, school, and other activities taking precedence in our busy lives, it was nice to just slow down and have some one-on-one time with one of my girls.

It was an almost six-hour drive from Maryland to Rochester, and we spent the time listening to music, looking at the beautiful scenery, and chatting.  We talked about how her current senior year in high school was progressing, her expectations from college, thoughts on her future plans (which she hopes to include some semesters abroad), and she asked me about my college years.  It was a great time to share our stories, opinions, ideas, and feelings – and we laughed together – a lot – all weekend.

We made inside jokes about things we saw on campus, we laughed at dinner (as I ordered my usual “strangest thing on the menu”), we laughed in the hotel room, and we laughed at things we saw on the trip (a man casually jogging through on of Rochester’s largest cemetery’s struck us as particularly odd and funny).

As we drove back on Saturday morning (munching on “Tim Hortons” doughnuts in the car), I looked over and realized that my little girl had grown up.  She would soon be departing our home and moving off into the big, wide world – making her own decisions and charting her own course.  I hope my wife and I have laid the foundation for a successful future, but the real work – the real building of her future – lay ahead of her – and it would be mostly based upon her choices from here on out.

As she gazed out the window, I wonder if she was thinking the same thing.

What an exciting time in her young life.  I was glad I was able to share part of it with her this past weekend, and it flooded my emotions with the love, joy, and hope that only a parent truly understands.

Your brass ring is out there, little one.

Now go and grab it.