Going Home Again

     Whoever said you can't go home again probably didn't realize you actually can....as long as it's not forever and there's an open door policy on both ends of the deal.  The transition back home to live with my parents while Sissey attends college has been much smoothier and much easier than I ever imagined, plus it's been a whole lot of fun! I don't know if it's the fact that we all realize how quickly this experience will go by, or if it's because everyone is cheering and rooting for Sissey to get her college degree, or if it's just because I have been blessed with an incredibly understanding and supportive family (on both ends of the deal), but this unusual journey is turning out to be a pretty good trip!
     If the next couple of years go by as quickly as this first semester, I have a feeling Sissey will be working on her PhD before we know it.  But for now, we are both ready to head home again for the holidays and are just hoping Christmas break does not go by as quickly as the last sixteen weeks!
      All I really want for Christmas this year is to spend some quality time with my family....Bro will be arriving home from UVA in a couple of weeks and I plan to feed that hard-working college boy some home-cooked meals and take really good care of him while he's home...some quality TLC Mom-style!  He's been so proud of his sister and so understanding of the different path her college career must take.  From the moment he started submitting his college applications in his junior year of high school, he started pushing his sister to do the same.  Even when she chose to take a year off and work, he didn't let up, constantly talking to her about going on to college, working towards a degree, completing her education.  Even though he is not a Carolina fan and will certainly never pull for the Gamecocks, he is still proud of her decision and will always support the "home team."
     My husband and parents have been unbelievably flexible and patient as Sissey and I have disrupted all their lives with our comings and goings. I am keenly aware of the necessary adaptations in lifestyles that everyone has had to make in order for this journey to become a reality, and I do not take if for granted or assume that we were entitled to this opportunity. It has been an abundant gift...the chance to spend precious time with my parents, the chance for Sissey to bloom into the confident young woman she is destined to become, the chance for everyone to sacrifice something for a greater cause...those are truly gifts from the heart.
     So we'll pack up in a few days and head for home, going to the northern end of the southern states, going home again to Virginia, and in a few weeks, returning home again to South Carolina. And so it will go for the next four years, until the journey is complete, diploma in hand, tassels turned, and we can all say, "She did it!"

THE END

(OF THE FIRST SEMESTER!)