to the west

As we were driving home, after being "up north" dropping off college girl2, I snapped this photo.
It had been raining... rain drops casually mimicking the water I had in my eyes. The windshield wipers were the only sound in the car. The two of us were quiet, deep in our own thoughts.

A busy week had slowly come to an end. Tuesday had been move in day for college girl1. It was 100 and who-knows-what that day, with a rare humidity level of close to a sauna degree. A slightly aggravating hour and a half situation with her new apartment key, long trek from the parking garage in the before mentioned mostly awful heat, a car battery that died in the hotter-than-who-knows-what parking garage, resulting in bodies that have never experienced sweat like that before, ended in a mostly organized apartment bedroom that the girl was pretty excited about. (yep, that is a long sentence... probably full of misplaced commas and probably causing all the teachers that read this to wave their red pen at me... wave away!)  But, despite the heat of the day, we left her with one cool looking room! Oh, and a few hugs too. Classes have started for her and she is enjoying them. Yesterday, she found out the instructor for her geology class is friends with a high school buddy of her brother's! From Colorado! That made her day.

Thursday, of last week, took us to the north to meet up with college girl2. She had already been up there for her much anticipated Wilderness Welcome trip to Utah. She had a great time camping and hiking for 5 days. And for us, what does a higher elevation bring to move in day? Cooler temperatures. A welcome relief. Until we complete the check in process and pull into the "30 minute unload zone" and it proceeds to rain. Pouring rain. With our rain jackets on, one umbrella and thankfully some recruited help, we sloshed our way up to the third floor ( no elevators). After living at a high elevation for nearly 20 years and now living as low-landers, it's amazing what an elevation of over 7,000 feet carrying loads of dorm stuff up three fights of stairs soaking wet will do to you. Go ahead, imagine it!
We stayed the night at a hotel, she in her new room with her cute new room mate, and then we spent the next day organizing and making that extra trip to Target. Her room looks great and she is happy in it. We gave our hugs and said our good-byes.

The two of us headed home in the rain. Which brings me back to the photo above. The falling rain. The seeping water in my eyes. The dark clouds. And then, as the sun was getting ready to set, the clouds parted and for a brief moment the sun burst through. I picked up my phone and snapped the picture. That photo is unedited. The pink sun spots were an added bonus when I viewed the picture.

A sunset alert with epic proportions. A sunset worth all the sunsets our family enjoys while always looking to the west. A reminder that no matter how far we all are from each other right now, if we just look to the west... we will see the sun set. And think of each other.