Editor’s Note: Kelly Wallace is CNN’s digital correspondent and editor-at-large covering family, career and life. Read her other columns and follow her reports at CNN Parents and on Twitter.
Story highlights
Caryn and Doug Kopp's daughter Jamie is about to leave for college
The entire family knows it will be a big emotional adjustment
Jamie predicts her dad will be the one to cry, but is she right?
What does Jamie find in a time capsule created when she was born?
OK, get ready. This is really sweet. I was lucky to find a family who let us into their home to experience a very personal moment – the moment they said goodbye to their first child going off to college.
Caryn and Doug Kopp of Bedminster, New Jersey, say they feel like it was just yesterday when they were bringing Jamie home from the hospital. Now they are packing up her things and preparing to take her to college – and girding themselves for a much quieter home once she’s no longer around.
Jamie predicts her dad will be the one to cry. Is she right?
Read: A letter to my son as he leaves for college
If you have a child going off to college or if that’s in your near future, you should watch. But even for moms such as me, who won’t be taking a child to college for another 10 years, there is a ton to learn from the Kopps about cherishing time together and letting your little angel go.
When Jamie was born, her family created a time capsule for her. She didn’t open it until she was about to leave for the University of Maryland. What does she find?
Watch to find out – and some advice. You might want to have the tissue ready.
Produced by Mimi Schiffman. Videography by Mimi Schiffman and Rachel Kuipers.
