No Tear

My daughter is off to Space Camp!  We fortunately met a counselor as we were waiting to check in who was a mother of one of the attendees.  This was her fourteenth year as a counselor and had answers to everything we needed to know. 

We got my daughter checked in, had her medication and eye drops dropped off at the medical bay and then we all went over to Habitat 2 to put my daughter's things into her “accommodations”.  Everything about the spaces felt like the SciFi implementation of living in space (plus gravity, sun, and grass). 

My daughter was excited, especially about being on the top bunk.  Apparently you have to have a special note to get a bottom bunk because some children can’t climb the ladders to reach the top bunks.  Storage is minimal, and I do mean minimal.  There is a single locker for each child.  Fortunately, my daughter and I found one locker that was double wide and we could lay her suitcase down in it and have it opened for her to get to things.

She went down and got a jumpsuit and then she was off to activities and I was alone, free to check out the space museum and all the interesting things around the area.  I spent several hours looking all around.  I could have stayed for another day.  On my way out, I saw my daughter's group.  I came up quietly and waited for them to stop and asked the counselor if I could say goodbye. 

I tapped my daughter on the shoulder and said I wanted a hug.  She hugged me very tightly for a minute, and asked me not to go, but then she wanted to introduce me to her friends.  She hugged me one more time and then we said our, I love you’s and then I left.  She was talking with her friends as I walked off.  

She seemed like she was having a good time.  I hope she loves the whole week.