First and Last

The Princess and I will be on the road this morning to a Non-Contiguous New England State, on a visit to Hiptastic University. #1 Son is a senior there. How did that happen? Graduation is only six weeks in the distance. And this weekend marks his final performance as an actor at college.

Four student years ago, chubbier and softer, he played the nerdy assistant bank manager in a student-driven production of "No Sex, Please, We're British." His entire freshman dorm floor came, en masse, to the production I saw, and they cheered him to an embarrassing (for him) extent during the curtain calls. It was my first night out on a university campus since about 1982, and I was shocked by the wardrobe of the girls in the audience, which was similar to that of the working girls portrayed in the play. It was hard to imagine how my boy might be managing in that milieu, and I think he would tell you now, the first semester was tough.

But he found he had real friends on that dorm floor, some of whom are housemates this senior year, and he found his place in the Hiptastic theatre universe.

And he grew up.

The soft-cheeked boy can now grow a fearsome beard, has worked hard at school, on-stage and backstage, has formed into a young man, with more edges and a different kind of energy. He turns in his senior thesis today.

As a little boy, he had a way of folding into a hug, and that has not changed, for which I am grateful.

We'll have a late lunch today at one of our traditional meeting places in Hiptastictown, significantly called First and Last. Pure Luck will join us, and Dos (#1 Son's girlfriend) and a college friend already graduated and a friend from home who has been in the picture since middle school.

I anticipate some emotion, for me, anyway. Where will he be in six months, or a year? What will the future hold for a young actor whose life has been as soft as he once was? Will he learn to live in a world with more edges?

I believe he will.

Comments

[Cheesehead]

Indeed. This is lovely. Have a wonderful day.

[Jane Dark]

w00t! Congrats on turning in the thesis, #1 Son! Being finished with essays is my favorite part of writing them.

[KathyR]

Congratulations to #1 Son!

Songbird, I can't believe you're the mother of a full-sized grown-up. I mean, you're ridiculously young! (--winky--)

[kathy a.]

congratulations to son #1!

[Chorus]

Congratulations!! This is wonderful!!

[Rev Dr Mom]

They grow up so quickly,don't they? But it's an exciting milestone. Congratulations to all of you.

[Katharine]

Wow--time for the first one to fly the nest! Congratulations!

[Deb]

Wow - what a momentous occasion and celebration. Happy for you.. I get sniffly just thinking about The Harpist's high school graduation next year... a year away.

wow

d

[Kathryn]

Do hope that the time away is a joy,even amid the bittersweet experience of watching your eldest grow up and away...They do, I am assured by those I trust, always return - and this is something I rely upon.
hugs xxx

[ppb]

Oh! Oh! Oh! Don't you want to go Talbot's outlet shopping? I'll meet you there!

[Susan]

What a transition time for all of you....your relationships will be growing and changing so much.

[zorra]

Congratulations to #1 Son...and to you, Mom.
You done good.

[will smama]

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