on healthy distance
I’ve never been happier to be shunned.
I consider myself a fairly fast walker, but yesterday, after P met me in the library, as we were making our way back to the car to drive home, she lagged behind, even though I felt like I was walking more even more slowly than usual, so that I could keep in step with her and ask her about her day. I pointed out that fact, and she replied, not in a mean way (really), “Daddy, I just don’t want to associated with you.” And I was pleased to hear it; it means she’s bedding in to campus, embracing her college life and all the relative independence that entails. She elaborated further when we reached the car: “I just really like walking around the college on my own, sitting on the benches and being by myself.” I remember that feeling, freshman year, when I would hang out in the NCSU Brickyard, feeling old and wise and observant, eating my meatball sub, and tapping “poetry” fragments into my Sharp electronic daily planner I received as a graduation present and never really used for its intended purpose. It was exhilarating, in its way.
P will start packing her own lunches next week and be on her own for the majority of the day and hopefully, soon, driving herself to school. Fingers crossed.