| Biographical Non-Fiction posted December 19, 2020 | Chapters: |
...85 86 -87- 88... 
|
  |
Carol graduates, but three more are still in school.
A chapter in the book Remembering Yesterday
One Down And Three To Go
by BethShelby
| Background This chapter deals with school problems, first loves, a vacation, a dog incident, a setback, and a graduation. |
For new readers, who may not have read my author notes, this is written in a conversational way as I talk to my deceased husband. When I refer to someone just as "you" this means I am addressing my husband, Evan.
After her summer in Texas, Carol had continued writing letters to Tommy while she was in Florida doing the third semester of nursing, and at times everything seemed to be going smoothly. Sometimes they talked by phone. Both of them wrote long detailed letters about feelings and subjects that interested them. Sometimes the letters made Carol happy and other times sad. She often felt they both had a lot more growing up to do before they could be on the same page.
When Don and Christi went back to Southern College in the fall, he still had his girlfriend, Angie, from Summer Camp. He thought he’d been in love with Ce-Ce from high school and Kelly from during his first year at Southern. Angie was the third girl that he really had fallen hard for. Being in love and having a teacher, who had gotten upset with you and written you off, puts a lot of stress on a college student.
Don called and told us he was going home with Angie one weekend to meet her parents. We thought this was a bad idea. Parents are unpredictable and can often put a quick stop to a relationship for any number of reasons. They may think their daughter is too young to get serious, or for some reason, they just don’t like who she is dating. We never told Don, but when their friendship deteriorated to the point of her breaking up with him shortly after that weekend, you and I thought perhaps the parents might have asked her to stop seeing him.
Don was brokenhearted and had no clue as to the reason she wanted to end it. Things had been going smoothly with them. We might have been wrong about the parents having any bearing on the breakup, but I’ve known a lot of people whose relationship went sour after meeting the parents. For whatever reason, Don’s grades suffered and the Auto Mechanic class carried six hours of college credit. Most classes carry only three. We had no way of knowing anything other than what Don told us, but at the end of the semester in December, Don got his first ‘F’ in that class and a ‘D+’ in another class. That brought his grade point so low that he was told he would have to stay out of school for a semester, before he would be welcomed back on campus.
We probably could have gotten him into a junior college in New Orleans, but he really came home in no condition to study at all. He moped around the house very depressed and thought of himself as a failure. When Carol came back from Florida in December, she had two more semesters and would graduate the following December, so she and Christi went back to Southern in January of 1983.
In February, my mom took a friend to the doctor, and decided to have her own throat checked while she was there. The doctor felt her throat and became concerned that she might have a thyroid problem and sent her to a specialist. The specialist took a biopsy and sent it off for evaluation. It was a month before the final diagnosis came back. The tissue sample was sent to three different labs before thyroid cancer was confirmed. The surgeon removed part of her thyroid and set her up for eight chemo treatments. After the second one, Mom lost her hair and started wearing a wig. We were all very concerned about her. My older children adored her. Connie had never bonded with her the way the older three had. The chemo was sapping her strength. Mom had always been a bundle of energy.
Don got a construction job remodeling housing units over near Tulane University. His boss seemed happy with his work. One day, Don asked if it would be alright if he brought home this beautiful golden retriever dog. His boss said it was too rambunctious to be around his small children. We talked about it and agreed to take the dog. We had an area about eight feet wide and around twenty feet long on the side of our house that was fenced with a gate, so we figured he’d have room to run in there. The dog’s name was Nick. In spite of the fact that we think of St. Nicholas as good, Satan is also referred to in many stories as ‘Ole Nick’. I think that might have been the thought behind this dog's name.
Nick was so large that it was no wonder he shouldn't be around small children. He was about two years old and had never been trained to obey any commands. He could leap up and plant his paws on my chest and knock me to the ground easily. He wasn’t fond of being put inside of a fenced area that had a house on one side and a seven foot wooden fence on the other side. He couldn’t see out, and that made him unhappy. I put a leash on him and decided to take him for a walk. I wasn’t able to take charge, and he dragged me all over the neighborhood on our little walk. He got into at least five serious altercations with other animals. I began to wonder if we’d ever make it back home again. We all agreed Nick needed a different home.
Since we had decided that Nick had to go. I wrote up a nice ad with the heading, ‘Free to a good home.” I focused on his beauty and energy. I got a phone call right away from a lady who wanted him, and we were able to say goodbye to Nick. The funny thing is that a couple of days later my ad reappeared in the paper. This time the contact number was that of the lady who had taken him off our hands. We wished him the best and hoped that he would eventually end up with someone who could handle a dog like Nick.
In the summer of 1983, Carol did two nursing internships. The first was in Madison, Tennessee, near Nashville, and the second was at small hospital in Lakeland, Georgia. The school set up an arrangement so that Carol was able to share a room in the home of an older lady. It was a very comfortable arrangement for her. After a few weeks, we decided to take a Georgia vacation and see Carol while we were there. The lady Carol was living with told Carol to invite us down to stay at her home. She went to visit a friend and let us have the house for a couple of nights. Carol was happy to see us.
After visiting with her, you, Connie, and I went over toward the Atlantic and spent a day in Savannah. Then we went to Jekyll Island, which is a barrier strip of land off the coast of Georgia, and we spent a couple of days there. Jekyll is a 240-acre island with eight miles of white sand beaches. Its historic district is known as Millionaires Village. It was once home to some of America’s most wealthy and prominent citizens, such as the Pulitzers, Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and the Goodyear clan, to name a few. Connie enjoyed the beach and playground equipment that was there for children to use.
The last semester for Carol ended in December of 1983. Carol had the nurse pinning ceremony and her graduation was the following day. We were there for both events. We had one down and three to go to finish educating our children. I knew you were counting the days until you felt financially able to retire. I wasn't sure how much longer you would be willing to wait.
After her summer in Texas, Carol had continued writing letters to Tommy while she was in Florida doing the third semester of nursing, and at times everything seemed to be going smoothly. Sometimes they talked by phone. Both of them wrote long detailed letters about feelings and subjects that interested them. Sometimes the letters made Carol happy and other times sad. She often felt they both had a lot more growing up to do before they could be on the same page.
When Don and Christi went back to Southern College in the fall, he still had his girlfriend, Angie, from Summer Camp. He thought he’d been in love with Ce-Ce from high school and Kelly from during his first year at Southern. Angie was the third girl that he really had fallen hard for. Being in love and having a teacher, who had gotten upset with you and written you off, puts a lot of stress on a college student.
Don called and told us he was going home with Angie one weekend to meet her parents. We thought this was a bad idea. Parents are unpredictable and can often put a quick stop to a relationship for any number of reasons. They may think their daughter is too young to get serious, or for some reason, they just don’t like who she is dating. We never told Don, but when their friendship deteriorated to the point of her breaking up with him shortly after that weekend, you and I thought perhaps the parents might have asked her to stop seeing him.
Don was brokenhearted and had no clue as to the reason she wanted to end it. Things had been going smoothly with them. We might have been wrong about the parents having any bearing on the breakup, but I’ve known a lot of people whose relationship went sour after meeting the parents. For whatever reason, Don’s grades suffered and the Auto Mechanic class carried six hours of college credit. Most classes carry only three. We had no way of knowing anything other than what Don told us, but at the end of the semester in December, Don got his first ‘F’ in that class and a ‘D+’ in another class. That brought his grade point so low that he was told he would have to stay out of school for a semester, before he would be welcomed back on campus.
We probably could have gotten him into a junior college in New Orleans, but he really came home in no condition to study at all. He moped around the house very depressed and thought of himself as a failure. When Carol came back from Florida in December, she had two more semesters and would graduate the following December, so she and Christi went back to Southern in January of 1983.
In February, my mom took a friend to the doctor, and decided to have her own throat checked while she was there. The doctor felt her throat and became concerned that she might have a thyroid problem and sent her to a specialist. The specialist took a biopsy and sent it off for evaluation. It was a month before the final diagnosis came back. The tissue sample was sent to three different labs before thyroid cancer was confirmed. The surgeon removed part of her thyroid and set her up for eight chemo treatments. After the second one, Mom lost her hair and started wearing a wig. We were all very concerned about her. My older children adored her. Connie had never bonded with her the way the older three had. The chemo was sapping her strength. Mom had always been a bundle of energy.
Don got a construction job remodeling housing units over near Tulane University. His boss seemed happy with his work. One day, Don asked if it would be alright if he brought home this beautiful golden retriever dog. His boss said it was too rambunctious to be around his small children. We talked about it and agreed to take the dog. We had an area about eight feet wide and around twenty feet long on the side of our house that was fenced with a gate, so we figured he’d have room to run in there. The dog’s name was Nick. In spite of the fact that we think of St. Nicholas as good, Satan is also referred to in many stories as ‘Ole Nick’. I think that might have been the thought behind this dog's name.
Nick was so large that it was no wonder he shouldn't be around small children. He was about two years old and had never been trained to obey any commands. He could leap up and plant his paws on my chest and knock me to the ground easily. He wasn’t fond of being put inside of a fenced area that had a house on one side and a seven foot wooden fence on the other side. He couldn’t see out, and that made him unhappy. I put a leash on him and decided to take him for a walk. I wasn’t able to take charge, and he dragged me all over the neighborhood on our little walk. He got into at least five serious altercations with other animals. I began to wonder if we’d ever make it back home again. We all agreed Nick needed a different home.
Since we had decided that Nick had to go. I wrote up a nice ad with the heading, ‘Free to a good home.” I focused on his beauty and energy. I got a phone call right away from a lady who wanted him, and we were able to say goodbye to Nick. The funny thing is that a couple of days later my ad reappeared in the paper. This time the contact number was that of the lady who had taken him off our hands. We wished him the best and hoped that he would eventually end up with someone who could handle a dog like Nick.
In the summer of 1983, Carol did two nursing internships. The first was in Madison, Tennessee, near Nashville, and the second was at small hospital in Lakeland, Georgia. The school set up an arrangement so that Carol was able to share a room in the home of an older lady. It was a very comfortable arrangement for her. After a few weeks, we decided to take a Georgia vacation and see Carol while we were there. The lady Carol was living with told Carol to invite us down to stay at her home. She went to visit a friend and let us have the house for a couple of nights. Carol was happy to see us.
After visiting with her, you, Connie, and I went over toward the Atlantic and spent a day in Savannah. Then we went to Jekyll Island, which is a barrier strip of land off the coast of Georgia, and we spent a couple of days there. Jekyll is a 240-acre island with eight miles of white sand beaches. Its historic district is known as Millionaires Village. It was once home to some of America’s most wealthy and prominent citizens, such as the Pulitzers, Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and the Goodyear clan, to name a few. Connie enjoyed the beach and playground equipment that was there for children to use.
The last semester for Carol ended in December of 1983. Carol had the nurse pinning ceremony and her graduation was the following day. We were there for both events. We had one down and three to go to finish educating our children. I knew you were counting the days until you felt financially able to retire. I wasn't sure how much longer you would be willing to wait.
 Recognized |
I'm continuing to recall memories of life with my deceased husband, Evan, as if I am talking aloud to him. I'm doing this because I want my children to know us as we knew each other and not just as their parents.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. 
You need to login or register to write reviews. It's quick! We only ask four questions to new members.
© Copyright 2024. BethShelby All rights reserved.
BethShelby has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
