A new chapter begins: Asa has gone to college. That's just as it should be, of course, but there is this big downside, which is that he's not here with us any more. Of course we saw this separation coming a long time ago, but that doesn't seem to do much to cushion the shock.
Tesi and I drove him out to Amherst on Saturday, helped him move his stuff into his dorm room on Sunday morning and stayed around the rest of the day for various welcoming activities.
On Monday morning we got together one more time before heading home. The three of us strolled around the campus for half an hour, talking of this and that and finally coming to rest on a bench where there is a view of far-away wooded hills. A little more dawdling, and then it really was time to cut loose and let him go to Freshman Orientation. We stood up. We hugged. We said some kind of parting words. Tesi briefly broke into sobs. A few more words, and then he walked away. We stood watching the back of that dear familiar figure, the big hairy head on the tall thin frame, ambling down a path to somewhere. Then it was time to go to the car.
It was a perfect late-summer day. A classic collegiate quadrangle stretched out all green before us. Above us there were tall pines against a clear blue sky. All around us were hundreds of young people--so young!--some buzzing in animated bunches--others solitary--all making their way to somewhere as they began their own new chapters.
As we reached the other end of the quad we saw a young father with a baby swaddled on his chest. He, too, was walking dreamily along in the bright morning. Presumably the dream he was wrapped in was the new parent's cocoon of "Here we are, me and my baby, the two of us in our happy little world". Nothing was said, but afterwards it turned out that both Tesi and I had had a strong impulse to speak to this stranger, had been wanting to say something like "I hope you savor every moment of the next eighteen years, because then they grow up and go to college."
A Salt Hygrometer
19 hours ago
9 comments:
...say something like "Do you know how much one year of college costs nowadays? Start saving!"
Well yes, there is that.
Have I been on FaceBook following my (assortedly fled from the nest) daughters? I feel everything should have a "Like" button.
I liked this post (and Mr Crown's comment, and your reply) very much.
Like ✓
I didn't know you had children, Catanea. If I remember right, you grew up in the US and live in Catalonia. How far away are your girls, and when did they go their separate ways?
I must say I agree with Ms Catanea. I do enjoy reading your posts, infrequent though they are. And they don't need to be frequenter, I sort of like that they're irregular in frequency.
Thank you. I may post again soon about other bittersweet aspects of the end of summer.
Sometimes I think I would like to make this a picture blog, but that would mean taking pictures. I used to like doing that, but for many years I have lazily abdicated the photographic side of life to Tesi.
Crown, is your daughter still thinking about the University of Edinburgh? As I've said before, I am very fond of that city, of the idea of living there.
Now she's thinking of architecture - they say that like her, 15% of architects are dyslexic; it's not a bad college choice, there's much less time spent reading than there would be for most arts subjects - and she's not sure Edinburgh's good enough at architecture. At the moment she wants to go to the Bartlett School at University College London - but then so do several thousand other people, apparently.
I think Edinburgh would be good if she chooses something else. As a Londoner myself I'm thinking that a country girl who loves horses & dogs etc. would thrive best some place other than central London. The last time we discussed it, a few days ago, she thought that Edinburgh might be cold & damp.
"Spread your little wings and fly away
Fly away far away"...
That was a Queen's song, wasn't it?
Empty, you wouldn't like to keep him under your own wings for ever and ever, would you? It wouldn't do him any good. Even if you were the owner of a large corporation...
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