Little Miss Muffet Has Left Her Tuffet

I was 14 years old when my sister Tracey had her youngest daughter, Caitlin. To me, maybe because she's the youngest, she's always seemed little (incidentally, it's always irked me that my family sees me, their youngest, in much the same way). Somewhere along the way I started calling her Little Miss Muffet, because it just fit. She's always been curious, high energy, and loved the lime light. So you can imagine how I feel now that she's off to college for the first time this week.

Tracey and I have been working at break-neck speed to finish Caitlin's college quilt. She chose the fabrics, Tracey designed it, and I just brought up the rear. It's been fun to see what fabrics all three of her girls chose at this important starting off point in life. Caitlin's I'm surprised by the most. She always loved the gaudiest, sparkliest, most feathery clothes, shoes, swimsuit, etc. And this fabric choice is such a sign that she really is growing up on us!

Me, Jennifer, Tracey, Chantalle, Caitlin & Susan (a college friend) at a Giants game, 1999

Paul & Caitlin in San Francisco, 2000

Caitlin was eight when Paul and I got married, and four years ago they moved to Highland and we got to share in her high school years. It's been so fun to have her be an even bigger part of our lives, and we are definitely losing someone special to Idaho. I won't go into it too much, because she means so much to us and we miss her like crazy, but I wanted to pay her tribute to cyberspace.

Paul came in while I was doing this, took one look at the pictures, and walked out misty-eyed. She's a treasure to all of us. Sunday evenings are the worst, because we miss her hanging out on our couch. I know she's where she's supposed to be, but will I be able to say good-bye to my own children someday? This is hard! We're so glad for her future experiences, and hope all the right choices and all the right people come her way. So to our Little Miss Muffet, who's all grown up, WE LOVE YOU!