Living in hilly snow country 35 miles south of Buffalo, New York is a colorful experience all year long.  One of the best experiences was a particular winter morning. We had several feet of snow on the ground and an ice storm had covered everything.

As I waited for the bus to go to work, I admired the moon over the western hills as the sun crept over the eastern hills.  I was sorry when the bus came because the scene was enchanting, however, the bus
driver closed the door and sat there watching the sky begin to lighten with shades of yellow, red, violet and light blue.  Soon the ice on all the trees was sparkling as though they had been covered with diamond dust.  There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that God was at work as we silently communed with nature at her best.  We carried that scene in our hearts and minds for a long time; for me it has been more than 40 years.  No artist ever produced a more inspiring panorama.

I am sure we all went to work that day with a renewed outlook.

Marilyn Shie

I know that most of these will have readers thinking a little about their behavior. These are based on my experiences growing up in the Heart of Dixie.
Lindsay Mulder

1. Fat kids are only cute if they belong to someone else.
2. Just because people don’t say that your children aren’t hideous doesn’t mean that they aren’t. Stop finding modeling agencies for your ugly kids.
3. A politician’s wife supports him. She knows she’ll live in infamy for being married to an alpha male.
4. You are only special to your family and friends.
5. A hundred years after your death, nobody will care that you existed.
6. Regardless of what they say, people don’t like hearing stories about your dog.
7. If you are a woman and you join a predominantly male company, don’t whine when they won’t include you in their conversations.
8. Women that file lawsuits because a man looked at them too long need to be fired for being too sensitive. Our husbands may work there. You make them uncomfortable.
9. If you go out in a short skirt, halter- top and high heels, you WILL be looked at. Stop whining.
10. If you don’t want to run the risk of being groped, think twice before heading out to a bar in the middle of the night and getting plastered Read the rest of this entry

From my experiences, starting a blog is exciting, fun and a lot of hard work. Well, actually, starting a blog isn’t hard work, maintaining a blog is extremely hard work. Let me define maitaining: writing blog posts on a regular basis. This blog, From My Experience, started with lofty goals of being a resource to help other people by user and bloggers sharing their personal experiences in daily life situations. It hasn’t gone as I would have hoped. I have written the majority of the posts even when I had hoped I would only be kick starting the blog Read the rest of this entry

Last month’s winner, “Cruel to be Kind” was truly a sad experience about a parent’s frustration in trying to get help for their child and the difficult lengths went to in order make it happen. Please take a some time to read it. Thank you KS for your submission.

We can now announce this month’s contest. You can send entries in today to entries@frommyexperience.com. All contest information is on the From My Experience Contest page. Please review before making your submission. All entries are due by March 19, 2008 to be accepted this month. If you miss the deadline there will another contest next month.

Thanks for all the entries last month and I look forward to reading, sharing and posting your experiences this month!

From my experience when it comes time to take your oldest child to college you can’t begin to imagine what emotions you will feel. You literally run the gamut starting with the night before when eating your “last supper” as a family and ending with he drive back from college the next day one person short. In between you try to savor each experience and burn it into your memory.

I just took my daughter to college for her freshman year and even though it was three days ago I’m still a little shellshocked. The last evening, before driving her to college, was surreal. I knew we would see her again and she was only a call or an email away, but still this was a life-changing event for her and my wife and I.

Kissing her good night for the last time as a child in our home, waking her up to get ready the next morning, seeing her in the rear-view mirror as we drove up, carrying her belongings to her dorm room and finally hugging her good-bye and watching her walk away were all moments like in a dream. You see them happening but you can’t stop them, you can only watch as if you were outside your body.

I am very happy and excited for my daughter and I know she will do well; we have prepared her for life and now it is time for her to start experiencing things without the close protection of Mom and Dad. I worry for her, I hope for her and most of all I miss her. But that is now and I know the ache in my heart will lessen and life will go on, but until that happens I do think of all the lost moments and look back with small regrets as most parents do. I should have spent more time with her, I should have read to her more, talked with her longer, been a more attentive parent, etc. Of course this kind of thinking is of no value and I push these negative thoughts away. Instead I look forward to the woman she will become and I am excited to think of the wonderful possibilities her life holds. I look forward to the story she will tell and the experiences she will have as she begins her life outside the home she has known for 18 years.

I know she will return for holidays, summers and special occasions, but one day even those won’t be guaranteed visits as she starts a career and possibly a family. I will cherish the visits even more knowing she will be gone again before I know it.

I realize I should be passing on experience with this post and so far I can only offer this: Do the best job as parent that you can so when it comes time for your son or daughter to leave, you can feel confident you have given them the heart and mind to be the person you know they can become. Then you pray for them and worry all the same.

I know one day I will look back fondly, without sadness, to the wonderful years I was a full-time Dad. My wife and I will live the life of a couple without children soon (my son is 2 years from beginning college) and I do look forward to rediscovering the couple we used be and will be again. But for the next few days I think I’ll be little more quiet and let the memories flood over me cherishing every hug, every story good night, every precious hand-hold and conversation we had. Time will soon ease the melancholy I feel so I might as well enjoy it while I can.

Update: Someone sent me a link for this book, I’ll Miss You Too: An Off-to-College Guide for Parents and Students to help with letting go. I haven’t read it but it got good reviews at Amazon.

Update 2: Well, it has been two months and our daughter came home for the first time. The good news is my wife and I enjoyed seeing her very much and as time went by the pain of missing her was replaced by an excitement to see how she was doing at college. There is indeed life after your child goes to college and guess what, it starts the day after you drop her off.

Related articles

• Top 10 Most Ridiculous College Courses (makethelist.net)
• College – Where to Go and What to Do (richmondvapresents.com)
• How to Finish College on Time (onlinecollege.org)

With this first humble post, I hope to make the website a cornerstone for helping others. This website will allow anyone to contribute from their experiences. You can give useful advice, impractical advice or humorous advice. The only limitation is it must be from your own personal experiences. We do ask that you keep it clean and hope you understand if we must censor some comments.

Over time we will develop categories as people submit their experiences. For now, please post whatever you feel will be helpful.