End of One, Beginning of Another (part 2)

Fresh Beginnings

Mother stood next to my bed with a nice cup of tea. She now knew of my affinity for tea, learned in a gentle Commonwealth country; an affection that would last (probably) forever. With milk and sugar.

She had news. Grandmother* would drive me up to college, and I would stay with my brother there while seeking a living arrangement. I was, it must be admitted, a bit of a late bloomer and was going to be a 22 year old mid-Sophomore. But I was on the right road, with no debilitating regrets for those things that had gone before. Do you like the idea of fresh beginnings, my dear scone-lovers? I can vouch for them! and rejoiced that I was given one that blessed fall of 1973.

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/59937401@N07/5856941321/

But for now, there my wonderful mother stood. Just lying there in bed and looking up at her face seemed a luxury. But! Up I must get. Breakfast I must eat! College would wait for no woman, and I had better be quick if I wanted to be a part of it.

I really don't know how I (she) accomplished everything as quickly as I (she) did. But by week's end I had become an accepted student of Oregon State University, in the school of Education. Throughout, there had been a whirlwind of activity - shopping, sewing, packing, seeing friends I had not seen in a year, and would now not see again for another.

 At last my grandmother's car sat in the drive, ready to bear us away. I piled my things in the back with a bit of heartache, for my little sister would be Here, and I would be There, again. I felt as if I was abandoning her, when we had just gotten back together! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinohyus/6315754129/

Earlier in the week, she’d sat watching as I organized clothes on our mother's big bed. She asked questions and I responded as best I could. Things about Life; about decisions; about hard things we must bear, and what makes them hard.

After a while my little sister had said, "Oh! When you tell me these things, you don't preach. And you make me feel like it's Real, and that it's worth it all."

And now she stood with my mother in the driveway, watching as I said goodbye to the small crowd of family gathered around. 

Then, I turned and hugged her and said I would write; we didn't have to say very much, because we had already said it all. Her small blond head could be seen next to our mother’s soft brown one, peering down the road at our car as we rounded the bend. 

A fresh beginning. It was the end of one, and the beginning of another. 

And I was finally ready.

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

*(please see Post from December 2, 2013: End of One, Beginning of Another) 

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinohyus/6315754129/">Dinohyus</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/59937401@N07/5856941321/">Images_of_Money</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>