Joanna Gaines is not ready to say goodbye to her eldest son.
The former HGTV star shared a photo on Instagram of herself hugging her eldest son, 19-year-old Drake, as the two said goodbye before he moves away from home for his sophomore year of college.
“Second year of college… saying goodbye doesn’t get any easier,” she wrote in the caption. “Much love to all the parents sending their kids off to school this year.”
Many of Gaines’ fans could relate to her situation and flooded the comments section with their own experiences dropping their children off at college and sharing how devastating it was for them.
Joanna Gaines shared a photo (inset) of her emotional farewell to her son and husband Chip Gaines as he moves out of home to go to college. (Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images | Joanna Gaines’ Instagram)
Chip Gaines criticized for ‘tone-deaf’ comments about money as he battles critics on social media
“So many emotions. I cried the whole way home when all five of our kids went off to college. Letting go is so hard,” wrote one fan. Another added, “I did this MANY years ago. I still get emotional thinking about it. Hardest part about being a parent… letting them fly.”
The former “Fixer Upper” star previously shared in a series of Instagram stories that she helped her son move into his college apartment, giving her fans a tour of Drake’s second home.
APP USERS CLICK HERE TO POST
During the tour, Joanna revealed her son’s drinking game, admitting that she initially thought it was a harmless game when she panned over it in the video.
“Ring toss game to have fun,” she captioned the video, adding that her son corrected her and said, “Mommy, this is a drinking game.”
Joanna Gaines accidentally gave away a drinking game while showing her fans her son’s dorm room. (Instagram: Joanna Gaines)
LIKE WHAT YOU READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
She also shared a glimpse into the finishing touches she added to the apartment to make it feel more homely for Drake, including secretly placing one of her books inside and joking that she put it on his bookshelf “for more color.”
Besides Drake, Joanna has four other children with her husband Chip Gaines: Ella, 17, Duke, 16, Emmie, 14, and Crew, 6.
“Second year of college… saying goodbye doesn’t get any easier. Much love to all the parents sending their kids to school this season.”
The couple first spoke to People in November 2023 about what it was like to see Drake move out of their home after he left for his freshman year of college. They shared that it changed their perspective on raising their younger children, as it helped them realize that time passes faster than they thought.
“When you consider Drakey going off to college, you turn your attention to Crew, who is at the bottom of all of this,” Chip told People. “And you kind of live very consciously because you know — which is so hard to believe when you’re holding a one-year-old — ‘Oh, this time is going to go by fast.'”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
Chip and Joanna Gaines shared how their son’s departure for college changed their perspective on raising children. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
He continued, “Because back then, it seems like time stood still, but then when you see your son actually going to college – well, you definitely turn your attention to little Crew and basically want to live as if he’s going to college tomorrow so we can enjoy and appreciate every moment.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
