Overview

• On Aug. 9, Joanna Gaines shared an Instagram Reel set to Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” showing the family making homemade pizzas, hugging in their yard with dogs and Joanna riding her youngest’s motorbike during a “last dinner together.”
• In a follow-up caption on Aug. 10, she wrote about years flying by and asked how to hold her children close while also releasing them to new experiences.
• Drake, 20, returned to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor near the Gaines family’s Waco farm for his junior year while Ella, 18, departed for an out-of-state college that has not been publicly specified.
• Commenters responded with heart emojis and messages of support, relating to the empty-nest milestone and praising the family’s rituals.
• The send-off highlights the Gaineses’ use of intentional family moments and public social-media sharing to navigate the emotional transition of children leaving home.