Summer's Over

The ads are up for back-to-school sales and many of our friends are counting down the days before sending their kids off to college. I’m not sure if it’s because Brittany stayed at school this summer or what, but the fact that summer’s almost over stuns me.

She’ll be starting her Junior year soon, which means her college experience is half over!

She’s come home a few times for a weekend or a night, and on one of those Saturday mornings John thought he would surprise her and wash her car before she got up. As he was washing it he noticed her inspection sticker had run out in December (!)

When he told her she would need to get it inspected as soon as she got back to school she reminded him that between her jobs she works from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. everyday. “Impossible. No way.” So they decided that since she would be passing through Hickory two weeks later for a concert in Charlotte, they would trade cars until then. Oh and by the way since Dad was getting hers inspected would he also mind getting a short list of things done to it while it was still under warranty, which would run out in 300 miles…”Thank you, Daddy.”

Sunday night Brittany drove back to school in a little convertible with a full tank of gas. Monday morning John drove off in an SUV, on fumes, to get it inspected and worked on!

Two weeks later they were both happy to switch back to their own cars! In fact each looked like a rental car employee circling their car looking for dings or damage!

As Brittany drove off that weekend the on hold music she chose for my calls to her cell phone kept playing in my head. From the song "Red High Heels": “I bet you want me back now don’t you, don’t you? I’m about to show you just how missing me feels….” And I thought that even though she has become so independent it’s nice to be there to help her out when she does need it, but how much longer would that be?

A couple days later she called to tell us how she was changing her uniform at the Subway to go to her next job at the hotel and since the bathroom there was occupied she stepped into a closet to change and accidentally locked herself in. She used her cell to call 411 to get the phone number of the connecting gas station because she thought the boys she worked with at the Subway might just leave her in there if she called them. So the gas station owner rescued her.

And I realized - she may be resourceful, but like all of us she’ll always need help!