Cal left for Bloomington - Yes, I Cried

Cal told us over the weekend that he wanted to spend the rest of quaratine in his house in Bloomington.  I wasn't surprised by the news.  We had all really enjoyed having him home these past two weeks and he had handled our strict rules on keeping our home safe very well.  Once President Trump announced that social distancing would stay in effect until April 30th, however, I realized that thirty more days in our house was going to be hard for him.  Doug asked him to think it over and not rush to leave.

This morning Cal told me that he was planning on heading back to Bloomington.  I asked him to wait until he talked to Dad.  Doug felt the safest place for Cal was with us, but also realized that it might be pretty challenging for him to be cooped up here.  Thus, they talked instead about Cal's plans for getting food and supplies, staying safe in Bloomington and what he would do if he or his roommates got sick while he was there.  When they hung up the phone I knew that it was inevitable that Cal would leave this week.  I just didn't realize that he would pack up and be on the road by 2 p.m. today.

I gave Cal a thermometer, Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer.  I offered him some non-perishable food, but he said that he was stocked at his house.  He stopped at HM's and his grandparents before he left to say goodbye.  I got a text around 2:30 from him that said, "Boomerang was still the best part of being home!"  I read it and just started sobbing.  I was scared for him and knew that I would really miss him.  We had agreed to set Memorial Day as a target for getting together again.  That seemed so long away.

Thankfully, Brett, Meg and Doug were able to help stop me from spending the rest of the day crying.  Doug said that it was ok to be sad and scared as this was an unprecedented time in our lives.  Brett reviewed the percentages with me for he and Cal's age groups and their low risk of serious complications of the virus.  He also reminded me that this way Cal would be in Bloomington if he needed him and he would be there for Cal if he was needed.  Meg told me to "suck it up and stop crying."  I did stop crying after all of these conversations and only teared up once more when I received the following text when Cal made it back to Bloomington.