Ann’s String of Pearls essay highlights what it was like to come to terms with her youngest child leaving for college. It weaves a beautiful story about misplacing a precious string of pearls given to her on her 18th birthday by her grandmother and likening the loss to your child leaving for college. She wrote, “For a moment, I felt like I had vertigo, my world tilting. I felt tears welling, recalling my son’s birth, his boyhood, his whole life to this moment. I took a deep breath, reached for his hand, remembered that I was the mom, the one to do the comforting. I leaned against him, sniffed—shampoo and hair product and cotton t-shirt—and steadied myself. The air grew cooler, and the sun sank. I looked at Atticus watching the deer and reminded myself that not all loss is permanent. I’d found my pearls after all. He was going but he would not be gone forever. I patted my pocket, remembering that I carry my history and my family with me.”