Spreading her wings

On Monday, Annalise received her acceptance letter to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. She was not only accepted into the university, she was accepted into their music program as a voice major. They have a great program and it's competitive. She got a big envelope, full of forms and notes about student orientations and housing on campus.

I knew she would probably get in. I wanted her to get in, it's the right place for her, it's just so damn far away. Still, we're so close, she'll need to move away to spread her wings

When I went off to college, I would have gone around the world if I could have. I had to settle on Wichita Falls, Texas, it was the farthest I could go on our tiny budget. I had a scholarship and I worked a series of part-time jobs and, for all that, I was in Wichita Falls. I left after two years and set myself up in Denton, Texas. After about a year, I found an exchange program and was off to Wales, U.K. for a year. That year saved me in many ways.

It's no big surprise that my own daughter is setting her sites on a school hundreds of miles away. Not a surprise at all. She's been telling me she was going to move to Nashville to be a singer since she was about 2 years old.

In about 6 months, she'll move to Nashville.
The end of an chapter, the beginning of a chapter. We'll both be in for something new next year. This is all what is supposed to happen, still it feels a bit too soon, somehow.

file under: life of a mom