JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Those of you who've been following this blog for a long time have seen my daughter Youngest, grow up. You've read about her "Think it over Baby" and her French exchange student while she was in middle school. You've seen her go to Hawai'i for the first Christmas after Ross died, and then triumphantly graduate high school six months later. You've been with her when she decided on the University of Maine, and when she went back in the middle of an international pandemic.
You've seen her at midsummer and at Christmas, continually aggrieved by my sentimental reading of 'Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.' You've followed along as she joined a sorority, spent a summer term abroad, and got her first car. She's even written here about growing up as an author's kid, back when she was fourteen.
Well, now she's off on the next adventure: in two weeks, she'll be leaving the US for the Netherlands. She's been accepted into grad school at the University of Leiden's master's program in Crisis and Security Management, specializing in War and Peace Studies.
In other words, Youngest is going to The Hague.
(As you can imagine, her family is getting a lot of mileage from that joke.) The program is a year, after which she will qualify for a one-year post-study work visa. When will we see her again at home? Probably Christmas. When will she return full time the US? That's... an open question. Most of the work in every field of international conflict resolution and response happens in The Hague or in Brussels. So her brother and sister and I are all making sure our passports are up to date - and that we've all downloaded WhatsApp.
The most amazing part of this is how little I've had to do to help her transition. Student visa, apartment, international phone service, airplane ticket - she's handled it all herself. The only service I'm providing is to store what furniture she's not selling or giving away and - big sigh - taking her cat, Walker. Her intention is to bring him over as well. We'll see what happens.
I feel a bit like I did when Spencer joined the Navy, and when Victoria bought her house. How can you do that? You're just a little kid! But of course, she's not anymore. None of them are. It's truly one of life's great joys to see people you knew as wee small children become, as my son likes to say, "grown-ass men and women."
So please join me in congratulating Youngest for the big life step she's taking. She's right here at home - along with prepping to leave, she's taking care of me post-surgery. And let me know what adventures the former children in your life have embarked on!
Oh, the title? That's Dutch for Farewell, until we meet again!
