The Drive That Changed Everything

How an 18-hour road trip became the first step in both our new chapters.

In mid-August of 2024, I climbed into the driver’s seat of my Acura RDX, loaded to the brim, with my daughter riding shotgun. We were headed from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Newark, Delaware, making the long trek to drop her off at college.

But really, I was dropping her off at the start of the rest of her life.

A life where I’d no longer be center stage. Instead, I’d be a guest star, showing up for holidays, crisis moments, and maybe summer break... at least that first one.

As we drove, she talked excitedly about what was ahead: classes, dorm life, and new friends. And I cried silently. All the way to the eastern Ohio border, mental tears slipped down my cheeks while I nodded and smiled.

But somewhere on that stretch of road, something shifted.

I realized it was impossible to feel sorrow while she was so full of joy.

So, I leaned in. I started singing along to her playlist, my Southern girl heading East with her perfectly chaotic mix of country bangers, Queen Taylor, and a few throwback anthems.

And then, somewhere in the Pennsylvania–West Virginia–Ohio triangle, John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” came on. And just like that, a memory etched itself into my soul and it hit me: she will always come home to me if I meet her where she is, in that moment, free of my baggage and open to her experiences.

The moment stopped being about holding on.

It became about letting go, with a great view.