While my son is off forging his own adventures at Auburn, we have a lot to celebrate here in Texas

From Saturday's Briefing:

Daily life is quieter at the Damm house. As the wise philosopher and meerkat Timon sings in The Lion King, "Our trio's down to two."

Cooper left for Auburn University in early August, and while he is adjusting to sharing a dorm room, doing his own laundry, rustling up some grub, navigating college coursework, making new friends — basically launching a new life — little sister Katie and I are adjusting to life without him.

That means fewer loads of laundry and fewer groceries to buy. There are fewer moments that I need to knock on his door and holler, "It's time to get up!" followed 10 minutes later by, "Seriously. Get up now!"

His absence means that we're solely responsible for taking out the trash and remembering to place the bins at the end of the driveway on Tuesday nights for early Wednesday morning pickup. We're down to one driver in the house — and one adult who can pick up the dry cleaning or make a late-night run for emergency ice cream.

I do get unsolicited text messages ("What's the Amazon code?" and "Thanks for sending the snacks!" and "Can my khaki pants go in the washing machine?"). We talk on the phone at least once a week.

But we're missing his daily running commentary on classes, peer antics, current events and music. I miss Saturday morning cross country meets. I miss his "Love you," said every single time I left the house or he left the house or one of us went to bed.

I find solace in the joy I hear in his voice when discussing engaging classes, stories from his civil rights book club and his project work with Engineers Without Borders. He's made friends. He attends home football games and socials. He works out at the rec center. He has plans for an Appalachian Trail hiking and camping adventure.

He says that his tough high school coursework prepared him for freshman year (a relief, especially now that Katie is in the throes of that work now). He seems to be — as far as I know — going to class, studying and turning in projects.

He has found his home at Auburn.

As Katie and I adjust to our new normal (and count the days until Thanksgiving break), I'm reminded that her time here at home is fleeting. When Cooper comes home for Christmas break, she'll be halfway through ninth grade. Experience tells me her high school years will fly by.

The passage of time isn't lost on my 14-year-old, either. To celebrate the first day of autumn, she created a fall 2019 bucket list, with an ambitious number of activities — 29 to be exact — to complete before winter dawns.

Her illustrated list includes reading books on a rainy day, volunteering at our church pumpkin patch, eating candy corn, taking a hayride, enjoying a Harry Potter movie marathon and walking through a haunted house. (I'm hoping to outsource that last item. Or maybe just sit in the car.)

Katie's list symbolizes more than an affinity for fall. It's a reminder that while Cooper is off forging his own adventures, we've got a lot to celebrate here in Texas. We can exist in the dichotomy of missing him and creating our own memories at the same time.

So while Cooper is cheering for the Tigers and shouting "War Eagle!" at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Katie and I will be looking for a corn maze, sipping apple cider and burning fall candles. And I'll be counting the days until his plane lands in Dallas.

Tyra Damm is a Briefing columnist. She can be reached at tyradamm@gmail.com.

Katie's fall 2019 list