Eighteen, Too

Alec was planning on working this fall.  Despite his high school graduation next month, and university graduation in a few weeks where he will earn his Associate's Degree, he didn't really feel the need to move away to college just yet.  Strike that.  He desperately wants to move away.  I was like that at Eighteen, too.

But I think the huge financial requirement of full-time college is weighing pretty heavily on him.  His plan was to work for a while, sock away some money, and then college.  He wants to be an engineer, smart boy.  I was smart at Eighteen, too.

Over the weekend, his plans abruptly changed when, as a result of his gold medal (gold medal!) in the Science Olympiad, he won a decent little scholarship.  Today, we visited the campus and talked with the engineering advisors.  He's pretty stoked.  I loved seeing his excitement, his enthusiasm, and his nervousness.  I was like that at Eighteen, too.

In the middle of my reminiscing and nostalgia, I realized that I was entering a new phase in life.  I'm going to start losing children.  My family will be shrinking instead of growing.  I've known this was coming, of course, but I wasn't planning on it coming up so quickly.  My own age is slapping me in the face when I try to feel like Eighteen.  What happened to the youthful, energetic, talented, smart, I-can-do-anything me?  I think my mom felt like that when I was Eighteen, too.