Summertime can be fleeting for parents especially, and Joanna and Chip Gaines are certainly feeling all the feels now that the warm months are coming to a close.
The end of summer means the beginning of back to school season, and for Joanna, 46, and Chip, 49, that means saying goodbye to their oldest, 19-year-old Drake.
Drake, the oldest of the TV couple's five children, is supposedly a student at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a private university in Belton, Texas.
Joanna and Chip are also the parents of daughters Ella, 17, and Emmie Kay, 14, plus sons Duke, 16, and youngest Crew, six. And while all their kids are getting ready for another year of school, it's Drake's departure that's hitting the hardest.
Joanna shared a bittersweet snap of herself embracing her oldest son after moving him into his new college apartment and bidding farewell, closing her eyes as she leaned into a sweet hug.
She captioned the photo: "Saying goodbye never gets easier. Lots of love to all the parents sending their kids off to school this season," and many of her other followers, parents and empty nesters themselves, could sympathize.
They left comments like: "Next week will be my first time saying goodbye. I keep trying to focus on her joy, instead my heartache," and: "My oldest starts Kindergarten next week and I'm not ok," as well as: "Our married daughter lives 5 hours away…I still cry when she leaves."
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The Magnolia Network co-founders spoke with People last year about having the first of their five children leave the nest, and how it's allowing them to spend more cherished moments with their four younger kids.
"Thankfully with my schedule, it's something we have to work out," she told the publication. "We tackle our schedules months in advance. We have to kind of know what we're doing, and how we're working, and our businesses here in town, and what meetings we go to."
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"So when I feel like, especially with sports with the kids, when I feel like we're moving into a busy season, I am very conscious and intentional about trying to get things off my calendar, that typically I think, 'I have to be there.'"
She added: "I think it's a gift that we can adjust our schedules in some ways. And there are seasons where it's hard work, and I'm trying to juggle both, but I think again, that's my priority right now — which means some other things just have to fall off, or I have to figure out how to do it a different time, or in a different way."
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Joanna also emphasized that Drake's absence means that all eyes are now on Crew, which Chip agrees with. "Something about Drakey going off to college really does make you shift your attention to Crew who's on the tail end of all this."
"And you're kind of living very intentionally because you know that — which is so hard to believe when you're holding a one-year-old — 'Oh, this time's going to go by quickly.'"