Lynn had an exam this
morning to close out her first semester as a college student. Ron was
originally going to do the fetching and the carrying back, but he had
to attend a funeral that began at 10:00. It's only an hour down and an
hour back and it was no trouble to fit this task in to my party prep. I
took her car (she can't have it at school), newly inspected and fitted
with a new rack for the rack and pinion steering. It has less "stuff"
in it than mine and so could more easily accommodate the things,
including her computer, that she'll want for the three weeks that
she'll be home. I filled it up with gas (big tank = $25 a fillup, a lot
for an impecunious student).
Lynn attends
Millersville
University, the state system school from which I graduated in 1969.
She's enrolled in a seven-year program leading to a Doctor of Optometry
degree. When she first expressed an interest in this school I told her
that our circumstances were different from those of my parents forty
years ago, that her educational options were wide open, and that she
should find the program she wanted and we would make that happen for
her. She assured me that Millersville was what she wanted, because "if
it
was good enough for the best mother in the whole world, then it's good
enough for me," she said. You can't
buy
an endorsement like that.
Lynn really didn't have a lot to transport. She's keeping the same room
for next semester, so most of her belongings could stay. She did bring
her computer (minus the printer) so she can stay connected through the
holiday to her vast network of IM buddies.
I remember my school vacations. The first several were okay. I started
out at the local community college, so I hadn't actually left town and
the new friends I'd made were from neighboring communities. I
reconnected with my friends returning from out of town campuses,
visited my high school, invited the new boyfriend to my church and
visited his. After I enrolled at Millersville I began to lose touch
with the old crowd and establish new relationships. By my senior year I
hated to come back longer than a weekend, so firmly established was my
new life.
Lynn has expressed how happy she is at school. She says it feels like
home. But she remains connected to her old life as well. Her boyfriend
of nearly two years is a bit younger than she and is still in high
school. I've encouraged her to make friends among male students even
though she has a steady boyfriend and among females who are not also
field hockey players, and she's taken that advice.
I miss her, but not as desperately as I feared I might. I want her to
establish her own life, and I suspect that as her college career
continues, especially after the boyfriend starts his, she'll detach
more and more from the old milieu. I still expect her to tell me where
she's going and when she'll be home, but I'm respecting the young
adulthood that she is ever more confidently asserting.
When we got back here she spent some time setting up her computer, and
then asked if there was anything she could do for me before she set off
on errands and visits. It will be good to have her here for a while,
and I can't wait to see some of her old friends who will surely stop by
tomorrow.
