Page 56 of A Very Miller-Cooper Life

I smiled as I watched Carter join him wearing her Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania sweatshirt and Olivia join in her New York University Sweatshirt (following in her mom and Uncle Jamie’s footsteps). I was beaming with pride over the excellent schools they had gotten into, but also very happy that none of them were going to be more than a two-hour drive from us.

“This picture is definitely going on the wall,” Reagan said as she moved to stand beside me.

Ronan waved his hand at the two of us next. “Not without you two in it. If this is going on the wall, it needs to include the two women who got us to where we are now.”

Don’t cry, Charlie. Don’t you dare cry.

“If you want to make sure our makeup isn’t running in these pictures, you better stop saying things like that,” Reagan joked.

Ronan shrugged. “I only speak the truth.”

Olivia playfully elbowed him. “You’re also a huge suck up.”

Ronan shook his head and pointed to Carter. “I’m not as big of a suck up as her.”

“Carter isn’t a suck up. That’s just her personality.”

“For once, Olivia is right,” Carter said with a laugh.

Ronan and Olivia laughed along with her, and I quickly snapped a picture of this beautiful sibling moment. I didn’t care how well the picture came out that had me and Reagan in it. This one was definitely going on the wall.

Chapter 14

Reagan

The College Years

(18-22)

Ronan was the first of the college drop-offs since he had to be there early for football pre-season. Both Carter and Olivia came along to see off their brother even though we let them know they didn’t have to since their last summer at home was dwindling.

Bellman was the perfect small town atmosphere. It was filled with tiny shops and restaurants, a church on almost every corner, and multiple bars. I knew I would have a nice time exploring every time we came to visit, which would be often since we would be back a lot for Ronan’s football games.

As soon as we arrived on campus, we began moving Ronan into the dorm room that would be his home for at least the next year. Apparently, most students moved off campus after the first year so I was sure Ronan would too, but I’m not sure why he would want to when his dorm was at the prime spot—next to the dining hall and feet from the football field.

“This is a nice place you got here,” Olivia said as she sat down on his bed. “It’s going to be a culture shock when I ride the train in from New York and come to your games with Mom and Mama.”

Ronan sat down beside Olivia and looked between her and Carter. “You know you guys don’t have to feel obligated to come to my games. I know it’s going to be hard with your own college plans.”

Carter sat on the other side of Ronan. “I already have all of your home games marked on my calendar and I’m going to try my best to come to all of them as long as nothing comes up.Marcie wrote them down as well and is planning to come with me.”

Ronan smirked and elbowed Carter in the side. “I bet you're super excited to finally get away and be at the same school as your girlfriend. Don’t waste all of your Saturdays on me.”

Carter’s face turned red, but a small smile still played on her lips. “It’s a few Saturdays throughout the fall. We’ll be fine.”

After getting his room set up, we walked into town to go to a cute little restaurant called Emma’s Cafe that had apparently been in this town for well over fifty years. The food was fantastic and the portions were huge, so the walk back through town after the meal was very much so needed.

We stuck around for another hour, because even though he didn’t say it, it was obvious Ronan wasn’t ready for us to leave. We finally said our goodbyes when it was closing in on the time of his first team meeting. I honestly thought Ronan might start to cry when he pulled me into a bear hug and didn’t let go for a long time. Of course, his tears never came, but mine did. It was no surprise that Charlie cried as well, but it was surprising when both of the girls shed a few tears.

We were all quiet on the drive home. If the rest of the family was like me, they were thinking about what our new normal would be like now that the triplets would all be in different places.

Two weeks later, we went on our next college drop-off trip with one less sibling. Even though it had been years since living in the city, driving into New York still kind of felt like coming home. I was sure it would especially feel like that over the next four years since anytime I went there, it would be to see a big part of my home—my crazy daughter who spent the last eighteen years keeping me on my toes. Thinking about saying goodbye to Olivia in a few hours caused a physical pain in my heart. I was going to miss her attitude and all of the eye rolls, butI was especially going to miss the times she let her guard down. The way she still snuggled up to me as we watched a movie or a TV show. How she shared all of the details of her life with me (even the ones I would rather not know).

“I still can’t believe your campus is just spread out through Manhattan,” Carter said, saving me from my spiral. “I could never handle this.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Olivia playfully poke Carter. “It’s not like your school’s not in a city.”

“Yeah, but Philly is nothing like New York.” Carter smiled sweetly at Olivia. “New York is perfect for you though. Definitely the right fit.”

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