Off to College
By Annis Cassells, Writers of Kern Branch
“Mom, I’ve got some college stuff for you to look at and fill out,” I say to my mother’s green plaid back as she finishes washing the large stainless steel soup pot and places it on the drain board.
“Just a minute and I’ll get to it,” she says. Then she dries her hands on a terry cloth tea towel and moves toward the chrome-legged, yellow Formica table that occupies half the kitchen in our eastside Detroit two-family flat.
Everything in the manila envelope from Eastern Michigan University is related to the dorm: application, rules, floor plans, parental permissions and restrictions. I’ve been assigned to Buell Hall, one of the newest buildings on the campus.Though EMU is only 35 miles away in Ypsilanti, I can’t wait to be on my own and become immersed in campus life – my new life.
“I’m going find a graduation picture to send in with the application,” I call over my shoulder as I head toward the bedroom I share with my younger sister.Mom plops onto the yellow-cushioned kitchen chair.
I return with the photo of me with my long hair up in a French roll. A single strand of pearls circles the neckline of my pale yellow, crew-neck sweater. Mom holds a single sheet of paper and looks up. “This paper tells them where you can and can’t go and what time you have to be in.” Mom looks me straight in the eye and says, “You’ve got to use the good sense your daddy and I taught you. So I’m trustin’ you and markin’ the box that says you can go where you want. No restrictions.”
She makes a big blue check in the box and signs her name almost in one motion. I am bursting with pride and biting my lip, working to keep a forming tear from overflowing onto my cheek. I hug her and rush back to my room so she can’t look in my face.
But I can’t see her face either. I am 17, and I don’t consider how my mother must feel, sending her eldest child off to college.
Stretched out on my blue chenille bedspread, I think, I’ll be on my own soon. I don’t give a thought to my boyfriend George. I am too busy looking toward 1961, my future, and freedom.
You can follow life coach, speaker, and writer Annis on her blog,
The DayMaker, at www.thedaymaker.blogspot.com.
Website: www.connectionsandconversations.com