They found me inside Emily's empty apartment sitting on a wooden chair. All that was left were the boxes they didn't use and a lot of trash on the living room floor. The desk, table, and shelf that had been in there when I arrived had been taken out. I taped up two more boxes in case they needed them. Then I took one box and was finally able to help with something. I put all the cleaning supplies she had under the kitchen sink in the box. When Amy and Todd got there they brought the girls up and I kept an eye on them while Todd tackled cleaning the countertops and the drawers and Amy cleaned out the refrigerator. Elyse had loads of fun running back and forth in the empty living room. She found twenty-nine cents--one quarter and five pennies--that she brought to me. Then she continued with her fascination with the snap pockets on my purse. She will endlessly put little things in them and then take them out again. I gave her a small jar of Carmex to put in the pocket. Then she found some metal screen holders that fit in just right. She pulled my purse around from room to room. Addilyn found my purse abandoned in the bedroom and decided to count the change in my change purse. Addilyn counted the money then put it all back in except for the pennies when Elyse noticed what her sister was doing. Addilyn asked me if she could have the pennies. Of course, Gram said yes.

Then all the cleaning was done and Amy asked Emily where she'd like to eat dinner. Emily said, "Somewhere that we can get a large group of people in quickly." The first thing that came to Amy's mind was The Spaghetti Warehouse. Even though it was downtown, Emily's eyes lit up so that's where we went. Kip's car that was on a towing dolly was parked in the Giant Eagle parking close to the apartment complex. So we all went there while Kip parked the truck by the dolly. Then he and Emily rode in Amy's van to the restaurant. Her father and brother, and Bill and I followed in our separate cars.

We got seated pretty quickly as we had hoped with our party of eight adults and two kids, got the menus and drink orders going, got our orders in, and then I said, "Well, this is the last supper." I looked at Emily and her face was starting to turn red and she had her hands up over her nose. Then I realized that she was crying. Instantly, I got tears in my eyes. I don't know if she had started to cry before I said what I did but the tears would have come eventually anyway. We all tried to comfort her. Her brother put his arm around her and that made her cry more. Poor girl. She'd calm the tears down and then a couple of minutes later they would well up again. She had been too busy before this to react or for it to sink in. I knew the feeling. Surprisingly, her dad picked up the check for all of us. That was such a nice thing for him to do.

Then I think it was Kip's idea to go have ice cream at this new joint in Grandview. It's a place called Jeni's. They have some very unusual flavors there. Flavors like coriander raspberry, lime cardamon yogurt, wild berry lavender to name a few. They let you sample whatever you want to try before you pick the scoop or two you want. I was the last one to get a cone and was trying to pay for it but then discovered that Emily's brother was paying for all of them. Another great and totally nice surprise. There were numerous picture taking sessions before and afterwards. It was at this point that I decided Bill and I needed to head home. We could have gone back to Giant Eagle and watched Kip hook up the truck to the dolly but I just couldn't prolong the goodbyes any longer. I knew it was time for that last big hug, those last words of wisdom, and that last loving look. They would have that two times over again once they got back to the truck so I decided not to make it three times over all at once. It would give them a short break in between our last heartfelt moments and the other two family's heartfelt moments before they were left alone to start the trip.

I didn't cry as I left. But I did feel sad. No depression anymore, just a small sadness. I felt reassured that they were as together and as ready as they could be about the trip. And it wasn't a huge rental truck that they got. With Kip's experience driving a UPS truck, he'll be able to handle that truck just fine. They only difference is that he'll be towing something but he'll get the hang of it. All I felt was exhausted as we drove home. They will have beautiful weather for the next few days as they make their way west. Of course, I'll still worry until I hear that they've arrived at their destination. He hasn't had to handle the Rocky Mountains before. Neither have I. So, I'm a little apprehensive about that.

Imagine my surprise this morning at 9:30 when I got a Google Talk message from Kip. I was so happy to hear from him. I hadn't thought about him having his laptop available and being at a hotel that would have free Internet connection. They only made it as far as Springfield, Ohio. Emily was just too tired. I don't know for sure what time they left Columbus. They took time to stop at Wal-Mart (ugh) and buy some walkie-talkies so they could communicate between the two of them as they drove. Emily has to drive her own car all the way. He said they were hoping to make it to St. Louis to stop for the night. And then, all too quickly, they had to leave again.