As a college Freshman at Bowling Green State University, the majority of the people I go to school with are, at most, a three hour drive from their homes. Most are from Cleveland or Cincinnati or Columbus or Detroit, and we have a select few that call Colorado or California home. For those select few and for me, we know the struggle of having a long-distance relationship with our parents.
While it may seem like a "long-distance" relationship is reserved for romantic relationships, I assure you there is a stark reality to having a long-distance relationship with your parents. Staying up late to call, hearing about their lives through Facebook and in the end not really being able to tell them every little detail of everyday like you used to do in high school.
Your parents become a huge part of your life in high school. They give you advice and help you through school and are proud of you no matter what, and even though you lose that in college, it's not all bad. You have to learn to be those things for yourself, to be proud of yourself, to tell yourself when to do your homework, and tell yourself that it's okay to not be perfect.
While this is a part of growing up, I'd like to think that my parents will always be a big part of my life. Going from living in their house to living across the country from your parents is a huge adjustment, and something I never thought would be this hard.
My parents are going through big adjustments too, and not just empty nest syndrome. While I'm learning to find my independence at college, they are learning to find their independence after twenty-two years of being only one thing-parents. They count down the days until they get to see us, too, but they are finding who they are again after years of only raising children. While they pick up new hobbies, I'm picking up classes and extracurriculars, and the parallel between our new lives is amazingly coincidental.
After visiting my parents over break (which took three flights, a five hour layover and a long drive to the Detroit Airport), I understand why they can't make weekend trips for Parents Weekend or Mom's Day to come visit me. And while I'll always want to attend those events with them, I get why they can't always come.
Now that Winter Break is over and I'm back in Bowling Green, missing my parents, I've begun to have a new appreciation for my independence. College is a time to broaden your horizons and see what you can do on your own. I'm excited for the opportunities here and I can't spend my life counting down the days until I see my parents again, even if I really want to.
