This has been an emotional week full of "lasts."
Last Sunday, we loaded up in the van to head to church, something we have done hundreds and hundreds of times together over the years..... and then as we started pulling out of the driveway, it hit me that it was our last time doing this together. (And yes, I am now sporting Argentina earrings on a regular basis!)
Wednesday was his last day here. Grandpa and Nana came over to say good-bye.
He's been lucky to have grown up just 10 minutes away from Dave's parents and has always had a close relationship with them.
One more hug for Nana!
Lacey had to work Wednesday night, but the other five of us headed out to T-pot (Korean BBQ), which Tanner requested as his final meal before leaving the country for two years!
Calamari for my boy! (And yes, I am wearing my Argentina earrings again)
After dinner, he swung by his best friend Owen's house and dropped off his fig plant for Owen to take care of while he's gone. Good luck at Virginia Tech, Francisco! (Francisco is Tanner's long-standing nick name for Owen).
We waited until Lacey got home from work and then we had a little family time. Dave gave Tanner a sweet Father's blessing and then we all went around the room and talked about our favorite memories with Tanner or funny times or things we loved about him. And we ended with Tanner saying what he wanted to say to all of us. Then we had a family prayer together and then had a big family hug - our last one for a while.
The kids decided to spent their final night together having a sleepover in the basement. So Tanner said his goodbyes to his beloved kitty Peppa (Tanner is Peppa's favorite person in the whole world and he sleeps upstairs in Tanner's bed with him every night).
And to his leopard gecko that he got for his 11th birthday and has been in his room with him ever since!
We all got up at 5am heading to be out the door by 6am to head to the airport.
Due to early morning High School soccer try outs, Riley wasn't able to go to the airport with us, so she said her goodbye's to Tanner before we left.
The other five of us drove to the airport, parked the car and got Tanner checked in. I did my level best to beg the person at the Delta counter to let all of us go to the gate with him, but unfortunately she said that their only exception to the rule of "ticketed passengers only" is if the person is in the military and leaving on deployment. I told her that he was serving a mission for two years, which was even longer than a deployment! She took a little pity on me and offered for me to go with him to the gate, but wouldn't issue tickets to Dave and the girls and Tanner said it would be easier to just say good-bye to all of us at once rather than piece meal it. So we headed toward security and stopped before he got in line to say our good-byes.
I tried hard to keep it together and be all smiles like everyone else, but I broke down mid-picture! 😢
But one fun fact...... Tanner is wearing the exact tie that Dave wore on his very last day of his mission in Spain. Tanner thought it would be meaningful to wear that exact tie on his first day of his mission.
Goodbye Ella.
Good-bye Lacey.
This is how it looks and feels for a mom to hold and see her only baby boy nearly every day of his life for over 18 years...... only to realize it's the last time she will do it for two long years.
Father and son hug. With the tie between them. Passing the baton.
And then, just like that.... we let him go.
Except I couldn't stand it and I called his name and went running after him and gave him one last hug before he stepped in the security line.
And then we stood there and watched him until he got all the way through security and we couldn't see him anymore.
Safe travels, my sweet boy.
Update: We haven't talked to Tanner yet, but we know he got there safely because he uploaded these pictures to google drive. Here he is in Mexico City and the Missionary Training Center where he is taking some intensive Spanish-language classes and he met with Elder Thomas, who is the nephew of Dave's mission companion when he was in Spain 30 years ago. Can you believe that? What a small world!
He looks happy!
And that makes me happy. Even if I write that sentence with a tear rolling down my cheek.
Love you, Tan-man!
