Airport Goodbyes

It was an early morning for the Galli family as we headed to the airport at 5:00 AM to drop off Madi and send her on her way to the MTC in Mexico for 6 weeks.  (5:00 AM came too soon as we were up until 3:00 AM getting her packed and ready to go, with alarms going off at 4:15 AM)

I think having Madi go to college last year has helped me prepare for this day.  We got used to her not being around, but on Sunday's it always hit us that she didn't live with us anymore. (Madi was always so busy her senior year, between high school, college classes, work and YMAD, that it wasn't until Sundays that we really missed her presence.)  That first semester while she was enjoying USU, we really struggled with her being gone.  By the second semester of school, we had built a new routine and got more accustomed to her being gone, although our home is never the same without her in it.

Reality hasn't sunk in, it seems that Madi will come walking in the door any day, as if she is coming home for the weekend to do laundry.  My denial is real, because when I think about how long it will really be until I see her again, the tears come pouring out.  Denial is a good place to be right now.

Its hard to be sad when you can see how happy Madi truly is.  The light of Christ is beaming throughout her and she couldn't be more excited to serve the people of Santa Rosa, California.

People have asked me this week, how I am doing (again denial is a good thing) but the truth is, I'd rather have my daughter serving a mission, relying of her Heavenly Father, building her testimony of the Savior, sharing the gospel with others and being surrounded by good influences than anywhere else.  So if I had to choose to watch her struggle or serve a mission; I would choose a mission every day of the week.