Matchingsocks’s Weblog

The day this girl left for Uganda, The family retriever decided to skip town too. The house is under mild renovations and so when her leash got untied, the family retriever decided it might be a good idea to go a-visiting places. She stayed missing the entire time this girl was a away; in the loving care- thankfully- of a family that took her in till she could be returned home. The family retriever, in timely fashion, came back just hours before this girl did and her shaggy ass tail was there at the gate when this girl pulled up.

The sisters have been running amok this past week; frantic out of their mind. Putting up posters. Calling places. Making pleas to the general public. The Family German Shepherd, who is madly in love with the family retriever, was besides himself: he was visibly sad, refusing to eat or drink much and generally mopping round the house flat out miserable. Even after she returned, he refused to leave her side, content to simply lie next to her quietly; though every once in a while he’d fall asleep and wake with a start just to check that she was still there.

Grad school feels a lot like this to this girl. Kinda like she was lost for a long time and it gave her a renewed sense of purpose. A seriousness of purpose. And every now and then, she’d wake with a start, cos she wonders- and has serious doubts- that she’d make it in. Then came the news that she did make it in- to the school she’s been wanting to go to since she graduated from college. And today, she learns, they are offering her a generous scholarship. Wow.

And so, this girl sat quietly in her room staring at the package- almost blankly- in part due to a severe case of jet lag, in part due to a serious, but necessary conversation she had just had (which went tres well), and in part due to the realization that grad school has become a reality. And while the prudent thing is to wait out for Harvard, this girl knows, deep in her heart of hearts, she’s already made up her mind. That in fact, she’d made up her mind of where to go the day she met with them months ago.

Sometimes the answer really is that simple.