I took this picture of J way back in August on the first day of Junior year. I wish I had known that morning when I admonished him for making that face (“Come on, give me a smile or something!”) that the face he gave me–one of sarcastic annoyance with a touch of “Are we done yet?”–would be a 100% accurate representation of the year as a whole, because perhaps I wouldn’t have given him such a hard time. (Perhaps.) Junior year sucks, and has sucked. It was the same with D, and although I can’t claim to know that Junior year sucks for every Junior and his or her…
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Go West, Young Man!
Today Jim and I did something I really couldn’t have imagined doing even a couple of years ago: we put D on a train that would take him away from us for the entire summer. He was hired to be a backwoods ranger at a Boy Scout High Adventure ranch in the mountains of New Mexico, something he’s wanted to do since he visited that same ranch for the first time a few years ago. After applying but not getting an offer last year, he was over the moon when he got the great news this year. When he called to tell me, I could hear the unadulterated joy in…
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There Are Definite Disadvantages To Having A Tall Kid
On Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. I was in my usual spot on the couch, typing away on my laptop. Seventeen-year-old J, who was getting ready for school and had been in the kitchen just a moment before–presumably eating his breakfast–entered the room. I looked up as he walked towards me, and noticed the huge grin on his face. He said, “You will NEVER guess what I found!” Without allowing me even a second to give it a shot, he held his hand out to me. In his palm were two Hershey’s Eggs. Easter candy. It’s like gold around here. He sat on the couch next to me and scooted over…
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The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree
It seems like only yesterday that I was waxing poetic about sending D off to college, and yet in two weeks he will finish his sophomore year. He is very, very happy at his school–which is a great relief to us, knowing that he made the right selection–and it’s been an exciting time for him. At the beginning of this semester, he decided to do something he claimed at the beginning of freshman year he had absolutely zero interest in doing: pledge a fraternity. We were relieved that he chose a fraternity that has a strict no secrets, no hazing policy, and it’s one whose members include the majority of…
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I Guess My Job Is Done. (Alternate Title: I Didn’t See THAT Coming!)
D is home for a four-day weekend, and he took a ride with me earlier today to run some errands. We made four stops and then I said, “I’m starting to feel like we might need an Icee before we go home.” Besides the fact that Icees aren’t our “normal” treat and that made the offer special in itself, D is a typical college student in that he would never, EVER turn down something like this. (I remember practically jumping for joy as a college student whenever my mom asked if I wanted to go to the store with her because I always came home with stuff I didn’t have…