He's ready to go

Yesterday, Tommy shipped his luggage to the airport via Kuro Neko (Black Cat), a package delivery service. They have a desk at Narita (Tokyo's international airport) where he will pick up the bags when he arrives there on Wednesday.



I hoped it wouldn't be so hard to let him go this time, and in some ways it isn't. He is so excited about starting college that the enthusiasm is contagious. And UD does a great job of getting kids enthused. He has received a letter from his orientation group leader and a new student newsletter. He has chosen his classes for the fall, found his roommate on Facebook, and opened a Facebook page himself, since most of UD seems to be there. The t-shirt from Constantin College arrived Thursday--just in time. It is nice to see him so happy to start school.

The orientation activities, Groundhog Days, last almost a week. He will not only have the chance to meet other students, move into his dorm room, and finalize his registration, but also to attend a play (it appears to be The Complete Works of Shakespeare: Abridged), a comedy show, a scavenger hunt, and daily Mass, see a minor league baseball game, and participate in a book and movie discussion group on the subject of whether virtue can be taught. That one got him upstairs looking for Plato on the bookshelf so he could pre-read Protagoras.


Whenever we say we'll miss him or mention how many days are left until he leaves, he says "Yeah," in a sad voice, but the look on his face, well, he looks like he does in the photo above. It's hard not to be happy for him when he is so happy.

And yet, I found myself in tears after Communion this morning. Something about the bittersweet moment when I looked down the row at all eight of us there together and knew that next Sunday, he won't be.