So my son found out yesterday he got into UT Austin. He’s 20 and finishing up his associate’s degree at the community college. He’d applied to UT out of HS, but his grades weren’t enough, thanks to him slacking off freshman year. Yes, that counts. So he tried UTSA, didn’t care for it, went to San Antonio College and loved it. He’s worked on the paper the past 3 semesters, editor this semester, and that was enough to get the attention of UT when he applied again.
We’ve been a bit anxious, because others have heard who applied after him. He was accepted to UNT, and I was getting anxious that he’d be moving so far. (I KNOW. I was 20 when I married. He’ll be 21 this summer. Still.) So he called yesterday from school.
I got a phone call around 4:15 from him. He told me to hang on, then came back on the line and asked if we were both there. He’d called his dad, too, and put us on conference call to tell us. “I have some news,” he said, and I knew.
I’m elated for him, and terribly sad at the same time. My first impulse was to run to the store to buy everything with a UT logo (and there are a LOT, here in Texas.) But then…
I’ve known this time next year he wouldn’t be here. That at Christmas he’ll probably just come for the weekend and go back to college with his friends. He may even have a job. That this was probably our last spring break together. But damn, typing that has me all teary. My husband says this is what we work for, what we hope for from the moment he’s born, that he will grow up and be his own man. He’s always been independent, he isn’t around much these days, but it’s hard.
And part of me is a little jealous. I didn’t go away to school. I went to UTSA, lived at home until I married, never had that independence. I’m glad Josh is getting it–and I love my life, but I think I’d be a little tougher if I’d gone out on my own.
So I cried for a bit, then went out and bought some UT gear.
Mine:
His:
