--- title: "School Drop Offs: Sacred Times" date: 2025-07-25 author: "Laurie Stroud" featured_image: "https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Walt-Hannah-and-Bay-at-Ole-Miss-game-day.jpg" categories: - name: "Family" url: "/category/news/family.md" tags: - name: "Featured" url: "/tag/featured.md" --- # School Drop Offs: Sacred Times **Special Feature Bay’s first few days of school were usually smooth sailing. She marched confidently into kindergarten and even more proudly into first grade, plastic purse slung over her shoulder beside her mismatched backpack. Her smile beamed, and she strutted up the sidewalk like she owned the school. As she marched from the truck toward the school, she’d often collect a group of little girls around her, buzzing like bees around a hive, and they’d all pour through the school doors together. [![Walt Hannah and Bay at college graduation](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Walt-Hannah-and-Bay-at-college-graduation-236x300.jpg "Walt Hannah and Bay at college graduation")](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Walt-Hannah-and-Bay-at-college-graduation.jpg)Walt and Hannah Merrell are seen here with their daughter Bay at her graduation from Ole Miss. Bay will head to Charleston this fall to attend grad school at the College of Charleston.Each morning, we’d ride 20 minutes to school- just the two of us. It started as a convenience- her school was near my office- but it quickly became sacred. We talked, laughed, sang, and bonded. I played the music of my childhood and beyond from a scratched-up first-generation iPod. She learned every word to “Brown Eyed Girl,” belted out “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” and loved the Crabb Family. But our song- the one that belonged to just us- was Rod Stewart’s “Have I Told You Lately.” I’d sing it to her at night, and in the mornings, we’d hold hands and sing it in the truck, off-key and full-hearted. She knew the words were more than lyrics. They were love. Then came second grade. Our pediatrician once told us that deep-thinking children come to understand the reality of evil in the world somewhere between second and fourth grade. For Bay, that awakening arrived quietly, then suddenly. One morning on the ride to school, she didn’t seem herself. Her hand squeezed mine a little tighter as we drove toward town. She didn’t sing, not even to the “good songs.” When I asked if she was okay, she said, “I’m fine”- her two-word distress call I now know too well. As we inched forward in the school drop-off line, she grew more anxious. When we reached the front, she whispered, “Daddy, I don’t want to go. Let me come to work with you. Please?” Her hands cupped mine, and her eyes pleaded. I froze. I knew I needed to make her go… for to do otherwise would promote anxiety for the morrow. But as her ‘deddy,’ I wanted to fix whatever hurt she had and avoid more of the same. Seeing my conflict, a kind teacher gently coaxed her out, saying, “It’s okay, Dad. I’ve got her.” But I’ll never forget the way she looked at me as the door shut- eyes locked on mine, hand reaching. She cried all the way to the school doors, her neck craning back to watch me drive off. I cried all the way to work. [![Walt Hannah and Bay at Ole Miss game day](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Walt-Hannah-and-Bay-at-Ole-Miss-game-day-225x300.jpg "Walt Hannah and Bay at Ole Miss game day")](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Walt-Hannah-and-Bay-at-Ole-Miss-game-day.jpg)Walt and Hannah traveled to Ole Miss for game day fun with Bay.That scenario played out for weeks. Her pleas turned sharper. “Why won’t you let me stay with you?” “Why are you leaving me?” Her tears tore me up. And every time I had to drive away, I did so with a heavy heart, praying I hadn’t failed her. I told my wife, Hannah, I didn’t know how much longer I could take it. She reassured me- ‘You’re doing the right thing’- but it still hurt. And she was right. Thankfully, Bay did work through this bout of separation anxiety. And she grew. In fact, her strength blossomed. And I soon realized the best thing I could do was let her face the hard things of life, while trusting the One who walks beside her. For even in my absence, He is with her. Now, years later, as I type this, Bay is preparing to leave home again to attend graduate school at the College of Charleston and all I can do is hum Rod Stewart and remember. “Have I told you lately that I love you…” I used to think those tearful school mornings were some of the hardest days I’d ever experienced. I was wrong. Letting her go now- watching her become her own lion, brave and bold- this is harder. But I know she’s ready. I am reminded that He goes with her… and He tells her every day that He loves her. I suppose, in truth, my prayer now is more about me being ready… and I pray that I am. *“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”* Joshua 1:9 *-Walt Merrell* *A Christian Outdoorsman who writes of his adventures with his family, with the hope that others might be inspired and encouraged to embrace God’s tapestry, otherwise known as the great outdoors, as a means of finding Common Ground. You can follow him at Shepherding Outdoors on FB, YT and IG and at* [*shepherdingoutdoors.com*](http://shepherdingoutdoors.com/)*. His most recent book is available at* [*shepherdingbook.com*](http://shepherdingbook.com/)*. Read his faith story at* [*www.BirminghamChristian.com*](http://www.birminghamchristian.com/)*.*