My Nest

Cory started school at Indiana Wesleyan University nearly a month ago.  All five of us traveled up to help him get settled and unpack.  It was a very long and emotional day.  My first chick to try his wings.

On the agenda that day were activities for families, some for students only and some for families only.  Some activities had vague descriptions, one being the last gathering of the night which had families separate from their student.  Unbeknownst to any of us, it was encouraged during the convocation that parents were not to bid their child good-bye.  Brian and my heart sank.  Tears welling up in my eyes I felt my Jones stubbornness kick in and decided that I was going to do what I could to be able to meet up with Cory one last time.  Brian had the same thought, although while my sadness turned to anger, Brian's turned to problem-solving.  He had me send texts to Cory telling him what we'd just heard.  But there was no answer.  His gathering was in another building--but which?  We'd been following him all day not us leading him.  We followed noises, but it was so loud he'd never hear our text.

We milled about the campus for a bit hoping that he would be released soon.  Brian wanted to start busting down doors and trying to find Cory in the sea of hundreds of faces in an auditorium.  I didn't think that we'd ever discover him that way.  After a bit, we decided that we could start walking around.  Sure enough, their meeting let out, but the sea of faces were now running and cheering down multiple sidewalks out of several exits from different sides of the building.  How would we find him?  All we wanted was to say our good bye.  We hadn't gotten that last hug.  (Sitting here trying not to cry just writing this out for the first time.)

No good.  We tried going into his dorm.  We weren't stopped, but we didn't find him either.  We'd realized then that many families were staying over night and coming back the next day for more activities.  We could not since we had church next day and were close enough to campus that we didn't think of (or did we even know) the activities on Sunday.

Finally we decided that we had to give up.  We had no idea where he was or how long he'd be.  We drug our feet going to the van hoping that at the last minute he'd get our text and get back with us.

It wasn't until we were about 5 miles down the road that he got our text and we were able to turn around to give him our last squeezes.

He is doing well at school.  I keep telling everyone that it is like eating at a buffet for him and he has the appetite of a...well, teenage boy.  He attends a lot of activities.  He is joining Awaken Ministries.  He has found a home church.  He is trying to find some deeper friendships.  He has interviewed for a couple of jobs.  He is ahead on class work.  Typical Cory.  He posts lots of pictures on social media which is nice for me.

This weekend is his first time home for a day visit.  Yay!