Thirteen years that passed in a moment.

Thirteen years ago, our Britta headed off to her first day of kindergarten. She was so excited! Look at that grin. She was all squeaky clean, with her crisp new bought-a-little-big clothes and her spotless white tennies. When I look very closely at her face, though, not only do I see the joy of finally getting to go to school, but I also see a little bit of fear. It was a big, scary world out there, full of new stuff.


Today was freshman move-in day at Viterbo. Here is our Britta getting settled into her desk at college. If she is afraid, she hid it from her mommy.

They accepted a lot of freshmen this year so rooms that are supposed to hold just 2 are holding 3. Here are Britta, her dad, one roommate Erica, and Erica's parents, trying to figure out how to arrange the furniture so that everyone can breathe.



This is where German blood comes in handy: You can make anything fit if you have a tape measure and a notebook.

They ended up with it set up quite nicely, with the stacked-up beds in the center of the room, effectively creating more wall space, and allowing everybody a little privacy. In fact, other people began tramping through to see how they had done it and to emulate them.

I don't have any pictures of the third roommate, Anna, because she did not arrive with her parents until quite late. The other two did a good job, I thought, of making sure to leave her her fair share of what little space there was. I'm not sure she agreed. Anyway her parents seem nice enough. I'm sure it was just a stressful day for her. (See me trying to see the best in everybody here?)


Here is Britta's minifridge from her grandparents Root, stocked with Dr. Pepper.

I'm home now and a little melancholy. Thirteen years... Has it really gone so fast?