The Maternal Unit knew I wanted to attend a particular private university in Waco (we live in Houston), because they had an undergraduate program I wanted to pursue, as well as a reputation for having an excellent law school, which I also wanted to attend after finishing my undergrad degree.
The Maternal Unit made great show out of "allowing" me to fill out applications for about a half-dozen schools, including the one I wanted to attend. I had nearly finished the application for the school I wanted, but there was some additional information I needed to gather before that application would be complete. At the time I became aware of this, I still had three weeks before the application was due in Waco.
I kept all my applications in the same drawer in the kitchen. The Waco application always stayed on top. Imagine my surprise when, several days after I realized I needed the additional information, which I'd since gathered, I opened the drawer and the Waco application had disappeared. Not on top, not in the pile, not in the drawer, not in the desk, period. I spent the remainder of the three weeks fruitlessly searching the entire house for the Waco application.
The *day before* the application was due in Waco, I opened the drawer one last time. Lo and behold, there was the Waco application, right on top. As circumstance would have it, the Maternal Unit happened (yeah, right, I don't believe it either) to be standing right behind me when I "found" the application. I asked her where she'd hidden it for the past three weeks, and why she had done so. She gave me one of her (in)famous saccharine grins, held up an envelope from the University of Houston, and said "It doesn't matter anyway! I've applied for you to go to the University of Houston, and they've accepted you! You're even going to be in the Honors Program! Isn't that wonderful? And they have a fantastic English program, too!"
What else could I do at that point? Like you, I didn't have access to any other funding. It was either attend the college of her choice, or not attend college at all. In hindsight she would have been better off saving her money--I worked retail for ten years *after* getting my degree, and now I'm on disability.
My hands are shaking as I'm typing all this out. Just reliving the memory makes me so angry!
Oh yeah. And the reason I no longer speak to the Paternal Unit either is that he recently admitted to me that, since he's been married to her for 40 years, he's always going to take her side over mine, no matter what. I always knew he felt that way, but having him actually say the words out loud was a real kick in the gut, yanno?
I'm so glad my mom was too drunk and too lazy to try this sort of thing.
She wanted to forbid me college altogether, but she had already allowed all the other kids to go, and supported them, so I had her on that one.
And because of her drinking and such, she really didn't know the details of my applications process. Dad knew much more, because he did the financial aid apps for me (we had just gone bankrupt and were pro-rating the loss of the next 5 years: he needed to explain that, and the resulting large negative income).
If she had been sober and less lazy, though, I suspect I would never have gone to college.
The Maternal Unit made great show out of "allowing" me to fill out applications for about a half-dozen schools, including the one I wanted to attend. I had nearly finished the application for the school I wanted, but there was some additional information I needed to gather before that application would be complete. At the time I became aware of this, I still had three weeks before the application was due in Waco.
I kept all my applications in the same drawer in the kitchen. The Waco application always stayed on top. Imagine my surprise when, several days after I realized I needed the additional information, which I'd since gathered, I opened the drawer and the Waco application had disappeared. Not on top, not in the pile, not in the drawer, not in the desk, period. I spent the remainder of the three weeks fruitlessly searching the entire house for the Waco application.
The *day before* the application was due in Waco, I opened the drawer one last time. Lo and behold, there was the Waco application, right on top. As circumstance would have it, the Maternal Unit happened (yeah, right, I don't believe it either) to be standing right behind me when I "found" the application. I asked her where she'd hidden it for the past three weeks, and why she had done so. She gave me one of her (in)famous saccharine grins, held up an envelope from the University of Houston, and said "It doesn't matter anyway! I've applied for you to go to the University of Houston, and they've accepted you! You're even going to be in the Honors Program! Isn't that wonderful? And they have a fantastic English program, too!"
What else could I do at that point? Like you, I didn't have access to any other funding. It was either attend the college of her choice, or not attend college at all. In hindsight she would have been better off saving her money--I worked retail for ten years *after* getting my degree, and now I'm on disability.
My hands are shaking as I'm typing all this out. Just reliving the memory makes me so angry!
And she wonders why I no longer speak to her...
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She wanted to forbid me college altogether, but she had already allowed all the other kids to go, and supported them, so I had her on that one.
And because of her drinking and such, she really didn't know the details of my applications process. Dad knew much more, because he did the financial aid apps for me (we had just gone bankrupt and were pro-rating the loss of the next 5 years: he needed to explain that, and the resulting large negative income).
If she had been sober and less lazy, though, I suspect I would never have gone to college.
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