Here We Go!

Dear Diary,

Here goes everything. College is underway.

Had a short discussion, with one of my dearest, about finishing college and starting careers late in life. We are both part of the boomerang boomers. Our conversations are about grandchildren, children, and college courses. For us, we have been college students since we were juniors in high school, this is the new normal.

It surprised me at first the amount of support coming my way. It has come strongly from my immediate family; from friends that have personally done the same has come a quiet confident nod and smile of excitement. That is a surprise.

They know. They know the thrill and change that comes, unlike anything I have ever experienced in my youth pursuing higher education. This, this is different. Underneath all the fear, insecurity, there is a fire that burns, and it has a sweetness that is hard to describe with words.

There was a story my mother used to tell about my dad. In the lean early years of marriage, they invested in a set of encyclopedias. My dad would read those newly purchased volumes after dinner every night. Growing up, my father always read the newspaper every evening after supper. Reading and learning are two legacies my father lived until the day he passed.

So this is a family tradition that I happily continue.

J.