Year in Photos (2025) #2 - 8

January 11, 2025, Charlie, Derek, and I woke up in Barcelona. None of us had ever been there. Charlie was 17 years old, and had completed all the units he needed to finish high school in California by the end of the fall trimester and didn't want to just kill time before college. So he asked me to help him study abroad. I enrolled him in the Universitat de Barcelona and found him a dorm, which sounds simple, but since he wasn't studying abroad with a program, I had to do it all piecemeal. I wanted very much to make this happen for him.

Numbers Two-Eight

Derek and Charlie. Our first morning in Barcelona, January 11, my 54th birthday.

Sea Hostel Barcelona. We would return to this place several times for coffee and juice.

The fact that he dreamt it and we were able to make that dream reality makes me so incredibly happy.

Exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA). In the Raval neighborhood where we were staying.

La Sagrada Familia. Truly the most incredible space I've ever been in.

We got Charlie a bike and he bicycled all over Barcelona, which has incredible bicycle infrastructure!

Last evening in Barcelona with Charlie. Photo by Derek

Leaving Charlie in Barcelona at 17 years old--or rather him leaving me, since he said goodbye and bicycled away from us our last evening--was one of the hardest things I've ever experienced as a mother. Parenting is so counter-intuive. You are supposed to both keep your children safe and encourage them take risks and go on adventures and grow. The cognitive dissonance can be unnerving.

Even though he was a continent and an ocean away and in a totally different time zone, Charlie and I got even closer when he was studying abroad. Some days we talked on the phone for hours as he explored the city; I would accompany him as he perused items at the grocery store; I talked him into purchasing an electric skillet so he could cook himself eggs.

He endured loneliness and a terrible first roommate; he learned to navigate the city on bicycle, train, and foot; he attended classes in Spanish and got good grades; he made a ton of friends, traveled to other cities and countries, and grew confident in who he is.

He came home, got a job bussing tables at Luna Red in San Luis Obispo, and in the fall of 2025, started San Diego State. His first day of classes at SDSU was his 18th birthday.

Living in Spain at 17 could have gone badly; it could have ended tragically. Instead, it was the Best Thing Ever. Thank god.