Prefatory Note; It is true that I said "Let's do the laundry room today" to Rosie. On the other hand, she is so beautifully enthusiastic about cleaning -- which was not a trait of her high school years! -- that I would have felt like a slacker if I'd decided to NOT clean yesterday. But the HS conferences were more tiring than I remembered. The good news is that you can now see ALL of my laundry room/pantry floor except the parts that are actually under furniture and appliances. No more boxes! That's a 50% gain in floor space!
After back-and-forthing and applying to several schools, Rosie finally settled on a college: Tiny Start-Up Catholic School in Ypsilanti. This had a number of advantages over Christendom -- nearer by a factor of about 6, cheaper by a factor of about four, and within drop-in range of the Major School campus apartment that Arwen and Bryan would be living in after they got married that summer. The (minor) disadvantage was that most meals were not provided. The students got five dinners a week at the Midsized-University-in-Ypsilanti right next door, but for breakfast, lunch, and weekends, they were on their own. Fortunately, their dormitory buildings were actually reasonably nice apartment buildings which the college had bought, so each set of three or four roommates had a full, functional kitchen.
It was interesting to see what Rosie and her new roommates considered necessary for a kitchen, and even more interesting to see what kind of things they planned to eat. Rosie, being my daughter, had a serious stockpile that included a #10 can of nacho cheese (to be eaten on baked potatoes as well as with chips.) Others had a selection of dollar store goodies. And the fourth roommate had to buy everything after she arrived, since she was an international student from Ukraine, who found all our food odd indeed, but habit-forming.
Rosie had not been at college very long when Fall Parents' Weekend rolled around. My husband and I went for the weekend, spending Friday night at Arwen and Bryan's tiny apartment. On Saturday morning, we got up and had berakfast with them, and then headed over to Rosie's campus for morning mass. I don't really have much memory of all that; what I do remember is being out in the hallway after mass. Rosie was introducing us to various people, most of whom have gone from my mind, but when she said "Mom and Dad, this is Anthony.", something I can only call "Mom-radar" went off. I knew that there was going to be something significant about Anthony. And I was certainly right. If you've read my earlier posts and followed the links you know they they were married in the summer after her junior year. Arwen tells it better than I have time to, so go read it there.
Tomorrow I'll bring you all the way up to date on Rosie.
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2 comments:
I really kind of wish I had gone to a small-ish Catholic school myself. I think I would have been so much happier, especially since I am not a fan of my own huge university. Though, given that I didn't become Catholic until Easter Vigil of my freshman year, I suppose it was a good thing. I probably would have felt terribly out of place my first year. Not that I don't feel out of place now -- I do -- but because I'm more into the faith than a lot of people around me. Thankfully the Catholic Centre at my school is really awesome and the Brotherhood of Hope provides the campus ministry (they are aimed entirely toward college campus ministry, which is awesome), so that is one shining diamond in the rough.
I love hearing about your daughters. Your love for your kids is amazing. It really helps to remind me that there are loving, caring parents out there.
I went to a big school freshman year and then transfered to a small Catholic university. And I loved it. Immaculata University, I highly recommend it to anyone looking. And they've let boys in since I left!
I'm enjoying hearing about your children. Post on Arwen too, I know I'd like to hear about her from your point of view as well. Of course, you might have to stretch longer than November.
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