This weekend I was at CVS picking up a few things and I noticed they had a summer clearance section.  As I glanced around at the items I saw two packages that each contained 250 bright colored straws.

Now at our house my daughter Ashley always uses a straw when she drinks something.  It is just a habit she developed and has continued.  Seeing these reminded me of her and I purchased two packages for a total of 500 straws.

Later that evening as I was placing them in the drawer it dawned on me that she will most likely never be here for 500 consecutive days ever again.  Sure she will be home for a few breaks and a few months in the summers but it will take her several years under the best of circumstances to use all those straws.

At that point I started to cry.  No big crocodiles tears like I did the day before she left for college but just a few small tears rolling down the cheeks of a mother who was brought to her knees by the realization that she would never again need to purchase 500 straws.