candace~I can soooooooooo relate! We have NEVER lived near any relatives, and even if we had, they are just not THOSE types of relatives. (If truth be told, I have received many more genuine offers of help and support from some people on this forum than I have ever had from “real” family.) I ended up having to farm my kids out to 4 different families just to give birth to my youngest child! </p>
<p>My oldest daughter is nearly 17 (a VERY mature 17!), and we actually left her with the kids when we went to Duke last August. We had several different support networks as back-up, but thankfully they were not needed. Still, I lived in a state of near-panic attack for the whole time I was gone! Remember, though, that my youngest is a mere 7 years old. </p>
<p>So, I can very much relate to your feelings of being left out…BTDT many, many times… ~berurah</p>
<p>Lucky you! Enjoy. I must forget these little breaks, Thanksgiving, parent’s weekend or ever seeing the campus. But mine is flying home for Christmas. That will be fun. It was set up for medical reasons, but now it is purely selfishness on my part; but I think it is important for these first years to take a deep breath homeside.</p>
<p>overseas~I admire you! It must be so terribly difficult to be that far away…You must be SO excited about Christmas!!! These visits will be all the sweeter for their infrequency. You will have a VERY special holiday season this year! ~berurah</p>
<p>ahhhhh Berurah I’m thinking about last fall when we first “met” here on CC and our boys were just applying to school. And here you are waiting for S to get home for fall break!! So much has happened in his life since then. Have a wonderful visit!!!(Berurah-style exclamation points)</p>
<p>andi!!!~I STILL can’t believe that it’s been a whole year since we “met”! I talked to S yesterday, and he told me that he has been seeing big buses full of prospective Dukies roll in out for tours. He said that he and a friend were remarking how utterly bizarre it was to be on THAT side of things and how they couldn’t believe that they were actually there! I know what he means…LOVED your exclamation points!!! xo love, ~b.</p>
<p>Yay for you Berurah! I too am envious. My D won’t be home til Thanksgiving week, although we do get to see her at parent’s weekend, which is the last weekend of this month. Fortunately the 31st is her birthday so we are going to stay an extra day so we can see her on her 19th.</p>
<p>naneth~Hi!! Where is your daughter going to school? It’ll only be a couple more weeks and then you’ll get to see your sweet D for parents’ weekend! What a COOL birthday she has! My D’s boyfriend shares your D’s birthday, and my D has one on New Year’s Eve! What a marvelous Halloween treat you got nearly nineteen years ago! I’m so happy for you that you will get to see her on her birthday…I am already dreading missing my son’s at the end of February…Thanks for posting! ~berurah</p>
<p>berurah- The Halloween baby goes to Washington and Lee. It is a cool birthday and I think she really likes it. When she was little and I took her trick-or-treating, she always told people it was her birthday, so they would give her extra candy. Our dentist appreciated it too!
Thanks for asking.
Naneth</p>
<p>naneth~My kids LOVE Halloween, even the older teenagers. Yes, your D has the COOLEST b-day! She must have been so cute (and SO proud!) going around as a little one and telling everyone it was her birthday too! <em>sniff</em> Such sweet memories, huh?? It sure is hard to believe that they grow up so fast, but somehow they do…~b.</p>
<p>My H woke up at 4:00 this morning, drove 6 1/2 hrs north to Bryn Mawr and brought D home for fall break. They arrived home at 6:45 pm this evening, more than twelve hours round trip, and H was exhausted. But we had our girl back home, and I had cooked her favorite supper, and we were all smiling our faces off! We get to keep her until the 17th, when she is due back on campus for a Japanese language mid-term. Friends from the local area are already calling to get together.</p>
<p>I share your excitement, Berurah. I hope you have a wonderfully sweet time with your S during his fall break. Ditto for everyone else fortunate enough to have a S or D home for fall break!</p>
<p>poetsheart~What a sweet and devoted daddy your lucky D has!! I’m sure the drive back home from Bryn Mawr was much, much better than the drive there! And the homecoming sounded like it was <em>perfect</em>, favorite supper and all! Your D must have felt SO special, just like she is! </p>
<p>S wasn’t around for supper tonight…his flight got in right on time, but he came by the house for just a few minutes before heading off with his girlfriend to meet some friends at the h.s. football game. He’s still gone with them now, but we are all supposed to go and watch his g.f. run in a CC meet tomorrow a.m., so that should be fun! </p>
<p>Your D’s fall break is nice and LONG!!! Lucky you! I think that last year Duke gave an entire week off (which, combined with the two weekends, made it quite lengthy), but this year they cut it down to just two school days off…Monday and Tuesday.</p>
<p>I hope that your daughter and your entire family enjoy this great reunion! I’m sure her friends will adore having her back with them for the next 10 days or so!! I will be thinking of you all! ~berurah</p>