He knows that he shouldn’t be this nervous. It’s a normal right of passage for any kid—well, young adult—but it still didn’t make it any easier.

“Dad!” he heard his name being called from down the hall. “Are you almost ready? I need to get going!”

“Almost Rissa,” he answered, and grabbed the last box from her now empty room while Pam stood in the doorway.

“It’s strange huh?” she asked, and Jim could only nod. “I’m so proud of her.”

“Me too,” Jim assured her, “she got into Harvard! It’s amazing!”

“She takes after her dad,” Pam grinned, and Jim shook his head in response. “Oh but she does.”

“Right,” Jim teased, “I still think she’s more you than anyone else.”

“Are you going to be staying in Boston tonight?” Pam asked changing the subject suddenly. “Or are you going to drive back tonight?”

“I still haven’t decided,” Jim told her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I'll probably try and drive back tonight. It just depends on how long it takes us to get her unpacked. I wish you were coming with us.”

“Me too,” she assured him, “but we’ve got four other kids we have to think about. Emmett has that parent/teacher conference thing I have to go to, and Jackson would kill me if I wasn’t at the football game tonight, since he’s starting for the first time. I’ll take lots of pictures though.”

“You better. I hate that I’m missing it.”

“He understands why babe,” Pam told him. “But you better go. Call me later, okay?”

“You bet,” Jim said as he kissed his wife goodbye. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Pam whispered as she followed Jim out into the large living room. “Marissa…”

“I’m going to miss you Mom,” Marissa cried into her mother’s shoulder as Jim watched them say goodbye. “I’ll be back for a visit before you know it.”

“You’re going to come back for the twins’ thirteenth birthday party next month, right?”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Marissa reassured her. “Addison and Sophie wouldn’t let me anyways. But I’m hoping to come at least once before that too…”

“Call me if you need anything.”

“I will mom, I promise. I love you.”

“I love you too baby girl,” Jim heard Pam whisper in her ear. “Okay, you and your dad better get on the road. You don’t want to hit traffic. Call me when you get to Boston?”

“I will for sure,” Marissa promised. “Okay dad, are you ready?”

“Yup,” Jim nodded, “let’s go.”

Pam stood on their front porch as Marissa climbed into her Chevy Aveo, loaded down with boxes, and Jim started his own car. He took a deep breath and pulled out onto the neighborhood streets, on the road to move his little girl to college.

It was going to be a long day.

They wove their way through the early morning Philadelphia traffic, and Jim bobbed his head along with his favorite radio station. He wished they didn’t have to drive separate cars, but Marissa had wanted to take her car with her, so he was following behind.

He was so proud of Marissa. After graduating in the top five percent of her class and being accepted to Yale, Harvard, Sarah Lawrence, Stanford, and every other college she’d applied for; Marissa had taken months to decide where she would end up.

He and Pam had gone over the pros and cons with her and made sure she knew that they would support her decision, whichever way she went. Though, Pam was not thrilled when Marissa hinted she was thinking about Stanford; having her oldest child on the opposite side of the country made Pam anxious. He was glad she’d gone with Harvard too; Boston wasn’t nearly as far away as Palo Alto, and the fact that she would only be five and a half hours away comforted him.

His phone buzzed and he picked it up quickly.

“Hello?”

“I’m starving dad,” Marissa’s voice rang in his ear. “Can we stop somewhere and get something to eat?”

“Sure sweetie,” he answered. “ Want anything specific?”

“I saw a sign for a diner at the next exit,” Marissa told him. “Let’s go there.”

“Sounds like a plan, Ris.”

“Great dad,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “Just follow me.”

“I thought I was doing that already?”

“Very funny, bye.”

“Bye.”

He hated to say he played favorites, but Marissa had always held a special place in his heart. He wasn’t sure if it was because she was the oldest, or if it was the scare they’d had with her with she was six months old that made them fear they’d loose her, but they’d always had a special bond.

Jim was pulling off at the exit when his phone buzzed again, although this time it was work. He shook his head and picked up the phone to hear the voice of the secretary, Janice, greet him.

“I’m so sorry Principal Halpert to bother you today,” her voice started right out, “but, we’ve had a small situation here. Some, um, profane graffiti on the outside east wall of the gym.”

“Oh no. Do we know who did it?”

“No,” Janice told him, “which is part of the problem.”

“Yeah,” Jim agreed. “What is Calvin doing?”

“He’s asking around,” Janice told him, “but he wanted me to let you know what was going on.”

“Thanks Janice,” Jim sighed, “I wish I could come in and help Calvin handle it, but he’s a good assistant principal and knows what he’s doing, and I’m already two hours away with Marissa on our way to Boston. I’ll be back Monday though. Did Calvin get maintenance to paint over it?”

“They started about twenty minutes ago,” Janice assured him. “We’ve got pictures though.”

“Sounds like you’ve got everything under control for now. Have Calvin give me a call this afternoon so we can discuss it. “

“Yes sir,” Janice answered quickly. “I’m sorry to bother you.”

“No worries,” Jim reassured her as he pulled into a parking space outside the diner. “Talk to you later.”

Jim flipped the phone shut as Marissa bounded up to the door of his car.

“Everything okay dad?”

“Oh yeah,” Jim told her, “some kids just spray painted graffiti at school. Mr. Mathis is handling it though.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be sweetie,” Jim wrapped an arm around her, “today is just for us. No worries.”

“Okay,” Marissa grinned. “I can’t believe I’m on my way to college.”

“Neither can I,” Jim agreed with a sigh. “It feels like just yesterday they were handing you to me for the first time. And now here you are, grown and leaving for college. It’s unbelievable.”

“Do you wish I would have stayed closer to home?”

“You know we would have loved for you to stay closer to home,” Jim answered her honestly, “but Marissa, your mom and I are so proud of you. You’ve done amazing things.”

“Thanks dad,” Marissa blushed, “it’s been a wild ride, huh?”

“It always has been,” Jim said with a grin. “I wouldn’t have had it any other way.“

“Dad, can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Jim told her, “you can always ask me anything.”

“You know, we’ve all heard your love story with mom, but…”

“What’s up sweetie?”

“How did you know that mom was ‘the one’? I mean, it could have ended so differently…”

“Yeah it could have, easily.”

“But it didn’t.”

“And really Marissa, it was all because we both had the courage to finally admit to ourselves what we could be together. And no we have five beautiful kids and a happy life together. And I love your mother more today than I ever thought possible.”

“You’re such a romantic dad.”

Jim felt his cheeks grow warm, “Yeah, always have been.”

Before Marissa could continue the waitress came up to take their orders. Once the waitress left Marissa started back in with her inquiry.

“But how did you know she was the only one for you?”

“There was nothing I couldn’t do without thinking of her,” Jim answered honestly, “and seeing her with her ex just killed me.”

“The one she was engaged to, right?”

“Yeah,” Jim nodded. “I tried to be just the friend she needed, and at the time, wanted, but I couldn’t lie to myself anymore…”

“And that is when you told her how you felt, right? At a work party for that company in Scranton.”

Jim nodded again as the waitress dropped off their plates, “Casino Night. But then when she turned me down, I was crushed.”

“And you left and went to Stamford, where you started dating that other girl.”

“Do you want to tell the story or do you want me to?”

Marissa giggled, “You, of course. I just like hearing it and it’s hard not to help you tell it.”

“I know,” Jim smiled at his daughter, “you all have heard the story so many times it amazes me you still want to hear it.”

“It’s just so romantic.”

“Not all of it Rissa,” Jim assured her as he picked at his eggs. “A lot of it hurt, and we went through a lot of pain to get where we are now.”

“But it was worth it, wasn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t change a thing now if I could,” Jim told her. “There were times when I wished we could go back and avoid all the hurt and just jump into our happily-ever-after, but I’m not sure it would have been the same if we had.”

“Do you think you would have still gotten married?”

“I want to say yes,” Jim told her, “but I don’t know. There is no way to know that for sure. I think we both had to find out who we were and what we wanted in life before we could dive into a relationship.”

“That makes sense,” Marissa agreed. “I hope I find someone who I can share that with.”

“You will sweetie,” Jim assured her. “You just have to have patience. It probably won't happen with the first guy you date.”

“Well obviously.”

“Is this about that boy, Jeffrey, was it?”

“Jason,” Marrisa automatically answered and shook her head, “no...well, maybe a little.”

“A little huh?”

“I really thought that...”

“That he was the one?”

“Yeah, I guess. I mean, he was the first boy I ever really liked and I thought we'd really have that high-school sweethearts thing going for us. Stupid I know...”

“You are not stupid Marissa,” Jim scolded, “and just because it didn't work out with him doesn't mean you aren't going to find someone ten times better out there. It means he wasn't the one for you.”

“But...”

“Hey sweetie,” Jim interrupted after her voice trailed off, “you are incredible and somewhere out there a boy who is worthy of you will realize that and make you fall in love with him and he'll be your one.”

“How are you so certain I'll find him?”

“Because I know he'll find you,” Jim answered, “he'd be crazy not too.”

“Thanks daddy,” Marissa whispered, “that means a lot.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too dad,” she said quickly and wiped her eyes. “Um, okay. We should probably go. I want to try and get there before noon.”

“You got it,” Jim declared and picked up the check to pay. “We’ve got about another three hours to get there. We should make it okay.”

“I don’t have to be there right at noon,” Marissa reminded him, “but I’d like to be there with plenty of time to get checked in. And I want you to try and get back for Jackson’s game tonight.”

“Marissa,” Jim sighed, “he’ll understand if I can’t make it.”

“I know,” she agreed, “but then again, it’d be awesome if you could be there. You know he’d love it. I don’t want to keep you from the rest of the family.”

“Rissa…”

“No more discussing,” she declared, and Jim shrugged. “Let’s go. If I have my way, you’ll be back for his game. Let’s hit the road, Jack…”

“You are so much like your mother.”

“Funny,” Marissa giggled, “she always tells me that I’m just like you.”

----

Jim couldn’t remember the last time his muscles were so sore. He’d been carrying boxes up and down stairs for the past two hours, and was silently cursing his daughter’s choice of a third story dorm room.

“It has the best view,” she had told them. “I’ll be able to see the sunrise better.”

He had to laugh a little bit at her thinking. He remembered back when he was in college and couldn’t remember a single time he’d been up before nine, but Marissa had always been an early bird. Waking before dawn and strolling down the quiet streets of their neighborhood with Angel, their chocolate lab, had always been her favorite time of day.

“You must be getting old dad,” she teased when she found him in the courtyard taking a much needed break. “You should have said something…”

“I’m fine,” he assured her, “just sore.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” he said with a quick nod. “Is that everything?”

“Yup,” Marissa told him with a deep breath. “I’m all moved in.”

“How does it feel?”

“Um, great and terrifying, all at the same time.”

“The terrified feeling will fade.”

“I hope so dad.”

“You are going to do great here sweetie. Did you call your mom?”

“Yup and she told me to tell you that you should just meet them at the high school.”

“She did not.”

Marissa smiled coyly, “Well, okay…maybe I told her that you would meet her there.”

“I don’t have to leave yet, Rissa.”

“I know you don’t have to, and it means so much to me that you drove down here with me dad, but I think I’m ready to do this on my own. I’m going to be fine.”

“You might be, but what if I’m not?”

A single tear ran down his daughter’s face as she tried to smile. “I miss you already daddy. Take care of my brothers and sisters, would you?”

Jim nodded reflexively and wrapped his little girl in his arms. She squeezed him tight and he had a feeling this was harder on her than she was letting on.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stick around for a while?” Jim asked. “We could get something to eat for dinner, maybe go to a movie…”

“Go dad,” Marissa reiterated, “I’m really going to be fine. Cheer for Jackson extra loud for me, okay?”

“You got it,” Jim nodded. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

After one last squeeze Jim reluctantly climbed into his car and headed south, headed home.

----

Eighteen Thousand, Six Hundred, and Twenty-Nine

Today was a pretty hard day for me. But sending your baby off to college would do anyone in, I’m sure. I’m so proud of her though. Marissa Amelia is off at Harvard, deciding what she wants to do with her life and how she wants to change the world. And I hope our conversation about boys today makes her feel better. (Though, I'm ready to go find that Jason kid and knock some sense into him.) And even though I'm no where ready to see her growing up and getting married I hate seeing her hurt. Any guy would be lucky to be with her...I'll have to make sure they know that.

I’m one proud dad for sure. And I’m not just proud of her, I’m proud of all my kids. It amazes me still that I was blessed with five beautiful and healthy children.

I miss her already, but Boston isn’t too far from here (at least it’s not as far as Stanford!) and she’ll be back often.

I can’t believe I’m old enough to have a kid in college. Man, time really does fly…