I didn't know they let babies into college.  But today, just this morning, my baby starts her first college classes.
 
How can it be?  She's just a little girl.  This is the same little baby I held as she took her first breaths in this world, the tiny trusting face that looked up at mine from her crib, the being whose very existence depended on me way back 18 years ago. 
 
Now she's all grown up and going off to college, where she has to do it all by herself, without me holding her hand and guiding her path. 
 
I don't know where the time went, but I wish I could do it all over again.  And I know exactly what I'd do differently, too.
 
I would leap out of bed at her first cry, instead of dawdling a bit to see if she'd go back to sleep.  I wouldn't be too tired to explain "why" to inquisitive minds, and I'd be eager to answer, when, as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard a small voice ask, "Do turtles have teeth?"  I would be more interested in playing and hearing her describe the wonders of her world than worrying about dull grown up things.  If I could do it all again, I would savor every moment.
 
To her credit, she is one strong kid, and very indulgent of her mother and her failings, since she turned out just perfect, all on her own. 
 
She's always gotten good grades and stayed out of trouble.  Because of me or fear of me?  Nope.  The reason is even better.  She's walked the right path simply because this is what she feels is right.
 
What more could a mother ask for? Just one thing -- MORE.  Just another moment, another day, another year, enough to last another lifetime.
 
As she takes the reins of her own life, I wish her the same thing -- more.  I wish all her dreams come true, and more, going beyond her wildest expectations; I wish her happiness, and more, beyond all limitations; and I wish her a lifetime of love, and more, beyond all bounds.
 
So here's to you, Katie -- to infinity and beyond, and even more.