Doyle says goodbye to his little girl: It’s time for college

My wife and I took our daughter, Veronica, to Seton Hall University for her freshman year this week.

My son is going into his junior year at Montclair State, so we’ve done this before, but it’s different with a daughter. Maybe it’s because she’s more emotional than her brother, or maybe it’s because I’m more protective of her since she’s a girl ... but the emotional tug was much stronger this time, especially for her mom. She started crying two days out.

When your child is born, you have all these grand plans that include eventually getting into a good school and finding a fulfilling career, but when the time comes to actually do those things, the fact that they have to leave you to do it strikes home.

Yes, we had 18 years to prepare for that day, but it was always kind of theoretical before. Now there’s actually another empty spot at the dinner table.

My daughter didn’t take it any better than her mom did. They were both crying their eyes out when we left. The waterworks didn’t end once we got home, either. My daughter and my wife were furiously texting back and forth as my daughter attempted to navigate the campus for the first time. She grew increasingly frustrated at her inability to find things and my wife had to fight the urge (with my help) to hop in the car and drive back to South Orange to help her.

I’m sure that in a few weeks, these incidents will become humorous anecdotes, but for now, anyway, the pain is real. My last remaining child at home is going to be a sophomore in high school this year, so we have a few years until he leaves.

But with his brother and sister both away at school now, he asked, “What do I do now that I’m all alone?”

 — Bill Doyle

More from New Jersey 101.5