Family time is a priority now

Susan Blenk of Sequim, mother of Jenny, a sophomore: “The few weeks before my daughter moved to Western were spent in planning for her dorm room. We spent fun times shopping for the most efficient ways to outfit her room, both economically and in terms of space. Sometimes we got a bit outlandish. That’s when the laughs started!”

Erin Chaplin of Yakima, mother of Eric Johnson, a junior: “We’ve always had family dinners but I tried to incorporate more of Eric’s favorite meals. Family dinners provided a forum for discussing some our experiences of going off to college, which proved a helpful segue for some one-on-one discussions as well, once Eric was at Western. We also made sure to include grandparents for dinners.”

Michelle Stanton of Burien, mother of Eric Nichols, a junior: “My son and I took a week-long vacation to Jamaica to just spend time together and away from the world. Having just survived all the graduation activities and parties, we needed some time to just ground ourselves before he left for his first year away from home and time to discuss and set our expectations of each other during this time.”

Schuyler Hoss of Vancouver, father of Matt, a senior: “Backyard barbecues with Matt’s high school friends were the best times spent together. Most of his friends were all going off to college, too, so it was a good way to see them all one last time.”