To my favorite scholar...
Well, it took my mom 19 years, but she is finally getting her BA in English, at the same time as I am. That's right, my mom and I are graduating at the same time. Of course, I'm not walking, because my graduation would be all the way up in San Francisco, and also because I think my mom should be the focus for everyone right now.
She didn't start college right away. I guess I don't understand exactly why not, but it was a different time. She worked retail jobs for years. The Wherehouse, a hardware store, Waldenbooks, and the local collge bookstore. She even worked at the college cafeteria for a while. I also remember her being a security guard at the Air Force base when I was a kid. She would be leaving for work, dressed all in black, as I was going to bed.
Both of my parents worked hard when I was growing up. My dad had to commute almost two hours everyday to work. But, I have to say that my mom always worked harder. Not only did she work at the bookstore and go to school, she also took care of me and my sister constantly, and at the expense of her own job and schooling. If we were sick, she took a day off. Or, she took us to work with her. Selling books all day, and making sure we drank out juice and got our rest in the backroom of her store. She drove us to soccer practices, softball practices, basketball practices, dance classes; and she was at every game or recital. She let my friends spend the night, and dropped me off at their houses when I wanted to go. She even managed to go on some field trips with me. How she managed this, with a full-time job, and part-time school, I'll never figure out.
Things only got harder after my Dad left. Now, she was doing all that she had been doing, but on one income, and with no help around the house. I'd like to say that my sister and I were troopers; that we pulled through and took care of things around the house so that she didn't have to. But, I have to admit that we only made things harder. We were teenagers, so it's to be expected, but I know we could have made things easier. Now we were demanding to be dropped off at our acting classes or art classes. Or we needed her to buy us make- up, or new clothes. We didn't want to hang around on the weekends to clean the little apartment we were forced to occupy, since we all lost the house in the divorce. I regret not being the Stepford child who made my Mom's life easier with her cheerfulness and goodwill. I still regret the decisions I make that benefit me and my husband over my mother, who worked so hard to make my life as great as it is today. But I know that she wants me to be happy, and that I am taking advantage of all that she worked so hard to provide me with; a good education, and a loving personality, so that I can make my marriage work, and will never have a problem taking care of my children the way my mother did for me.
The last two years or so, have been especially rough. With my mom's demanding job at the local newspaper, her kids moving in and out of the house because of college, and the fact that she continues to take care of their problems to this day, she hardly had time to crack a book, let alone write a ten page paper on one. But she did, and this weekend, we are celebrating the fact that the woman who always taught us to study and take school seriously, has followed her own advice, and with amazing perseverance, has obtained the degree she always wanted. The woman who has read every book on the planet...twice, has an English degree. She can now declare to society that she knows a little about literature. But in my book, and ever since I was a little girl, my mom has known everything. And I hope you will join me in congratulating her for proving it.
She didn't start college right away. I guess I don't understand exactly why not, but it was a different time. She worked retail jobs for years. The Wherehouse, a hardware store, Waldenbooks, and the local collge bookstore. She even worked at the college cafeteria for a while. I also remember her being a security guard at the Air Force base when I was a kid. She would be leaving for work, dressed all in black, as I was going to bed.
Both of my parents worked hard when I was growing up. My dad had to commute almost two hours everyday to work. But, I have to say that my mom always worked harder. Not only did she work at the bookstore and go to school, she also took care of me and my sister constantly, and at the expense of her own job and schooling. If we were sick, she took a day off. Or, she took us to work with her. Selling books all day, and making sure we drank out juice and got our rest in the backroom of her store. She drove us to soccer practices, softball practices, basketball practices, dance classes; and she was at every game or recital. She let my friends spend the night, and dropped me off at their houses when I wanted to go. She even managed to go on some field trips with me. How she managed this, with a full-time job, and part-time school, I'll never figure out.
Things only got harder after my Dad left. Now, she was doing all that she had been doing, but on one income, and with no help around the house. I'd like to say that my sister and I were troopers; that we pulled through and took care of things around the house so that she didn't have to. But, I have to admit that we only made things harder. We were teenagers, so it's to be expected, but I know we could have made things easier. Now we were demanding to be dropped off at our acting classes or art classes. Or we needed her to buy us make- up, or new clothes. We didn't want to hang around on the weekends to clean the little apartment we were forced to occupy, since we all lost the house in the divorce. I regret not being the Stepford child who made my Mom's life easier with her cheerfulness and goodwill. I still regret the decisions I make that benefit me and my husband over my mother, who worked so hard to make my life as great as it is today. But I know that she wants me to be happy, and that I am taking advantage of all that she worked so hard to provide me with; a good education, and a loving personality, so that I can make my marriage work, and will never have a problem taking care of my children the way my mother did for me.
The last two years or so, have been especially rough. With my mom's demanding job at the local newspaper, her kids moving in and out of the house because of college, and the fact that she continues to take care of their problems to this day, she hardly had time to crack a book, let alone write a ten page paper on one. But she did, and this weekend, we are celebrating the fact that the woman who always taught us to study and take school seriously, has followed her own advice, and with amazing perseverance, has obtained the degree she always wanted. The woman who has read every book on the planet...twice, has an English degree. She can now declare to society that she knows a little about literature. But in my book, and ever since I was a little girl, my mom has known everything. And I hope you will join me in congratulating her for proving it.