Back to School Memories

YEAH!  It is the weekend.  Back to school shopping has hit an all time frenzy.  The kids are already dreading the back to school routine while many parents are grateful for the chance to get back to a more structured schedule.  Many college students have already been dropped off and are preparing to start a new chapter in their life.  The shoobies head home and the Jersey shore once again belongs to the locals.

As for me, this is a time of year that is filled with many memories – happy and sad.  Belinda was ALWAYS busy so summers were filled with sports camps and long stays with family in Ocean Grove since we lived in EHT.  The end of summer meant getting back to a routine – getting up early (Belinda was DEFINITELY NOT a morning person), after school activities, games or cheering competitions and always being on the go.  School clothes shopping which was always an experience and as with most dreaded by parents.  Since funds were tight when Belinda was younger, there weren’t name brands and she loved shopping in the consignment stores.  There she was able to find items with tags still on them to complete her wardrobe. Most kids want EXACTLY what others were wearing while Belinda wanted just the opposite.  Walking into Journeys for sneakers meant not buying the HOT style or print, it meant shopping for the unusual.  Funny thing was that within about 2 months of school starting, lots of others were wearing the same style of sneaker that she was – a definite trend setter.

Can it be that 6 years ago, Mom and I delivered Belinda in North Carolina for her first year of college.  The weeks leading up to the trip to Cullowhee, NC were a crazy time.  A VERY last minute change on her part took her from Johnson & Wales in Charlotte, NC to Western Carolina University in Cullowee.  Talk about a difference of NIGHT and DAY!  After a long 13 hour drive through the winding roads of Tennessee and NC – thank you TripTik we saw the massive campus.  As Mom and I got her settled in – the tears began to flow.  TOUGH social worker time!  If Belinda and Mom had of had their way – Belinda would have been in the car riding BACK to NJ with us.  I had to be tough – LET GO and LET God was all I could think about on the drive home.  It was a rough first semester but she survived and so did all of us back home.

The result is an independent – SOCIAL WORKER who seeks to make the world a brighter place one person at a time!  This Momma couldn’t be prouder of the person she grew up to be.  There are memories of a little girl who I think loved the social side of school more than school .  Who the teachers raved about because she was so well-behaved – you mean Belinda?  Enjoy the moments for they grow up so fast.  I cherish those memories even if at the moment they seemed like torture.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!