In Earnest

It has begun in earnest now.  We are seriously searching for scolarships and colleges for my daughter.  On the 9th of September, she will tour North Georgia…not a big contender (or really even rating on her list of possibilities).  On the 15th she will go to a reception hosted by Boston University and on the 20th one hosted by Yale.  Over her spring break she will travel to North Carolina with her father and visit UNC at Wilmington (this one is a bigger possiblity than she will admit based on the proximity of close friends).  By the first of October she will apply to the University of South Carolina (where at the present she really wants to go).  She is already working on applications and essays for several scholarships.  For me, it is a bit overwhelming.  When she leaves it will be the first time in 30 years that I wont have a child to take care of.  To say that I am overwhelmed is putting it mildly. I know that she must do this.  I know that I must accept it.  I wonder what my weekends will be filled with when there are no more drill meets and karioke dates to attend. What will announce the Holidays when there are no more parades and Mil-Balls?  Who will go to the Bethlehem Walk with me?  It will work out…I know this.  I just have never liked starting over.

 

First day out

I saw my friend for the first time since her diagnosis with ovarian cancer. Wearing a scarf to cover her head that is bald now from the chemo therapy, she was so happy to feel well enough to be out.  She is so thin, so sick.  I wonder if people thought that way about me when I was sick.  She seemed so hopeful that the worst was behind her.  I hope that she's right.  She's dreading the re-check after the chemo ends.  Nobody likes surgery, even if it is laproscopic.  She was greatful for the cards and meals and care that was shown for her family. I know our church, I know it will continue for them.  I so hope that she is right, that the worst is behind her.  I hope that five years from now she's back at her job as a SICU nurse and has her long hair pulled back in a ponytail.  I hope that she will be telling other's that they can survive this.