The Baby came home late Saturday night with hardware from the State music competition. She received medals in choir and band. Then Sunday she was off the the early service, then lunch with friends, then with the choir to sing a Bacculaureate, then finally home. I smile and waive good bye cheerfully each time she leaves. But, in the backgrond, I hear the clock ticking as loud as Poe heard the heart beating. In only two years, she will follow her two sisters out the door to college. And that will be the end of it. No more kids at home. (Imagine lump in throat, tears in eyes.) My father told me to raise them to leave. I have. But, it hurts.