Chapter Eight

Finally, my high school years came to an abrupt end. Interestingly enough, the week before I graduated, my parents moved to Portsmouth, Virginia and my mother graduated from Old Dominion College. The move posed an interesting problem because I did not drive, and did not have car. So, every day my mother would have to drive me from Portsmouth back to Norfolk and to good old Norview High School. Luckily, all I had was final exams and graduation practice. We could’t wait to graduate! The class dressed in our navy-blue caps and gowns, tassels blowing in the warm June breeze, waiting to march into the stadium, walk across the stage, collect our diplomas, finally matriculate from high school, and move on to the next chapter of our lives. The sheer joy of just being done flowed through me for a solid week! Sadly, however, I knew I was going to lose my lifelong friends Louise, Jan, Gail, and Frank. We would all scatter and go our separate ways. I had already lost my boyfriend George; he went into the military and as far as I know went to Vietnam. I did not know what had happened to my other friend Dave. Surprisingly, years later, when I joined the alumni Association for Norview High School, I got an email from David, I sent him my phone number and he called me back. I found out that he and George live only about 150 - 200 miles apart and when I was living in Texas, I lived right in between the two of them. I never knew. see Photo 1  That, however, is a story for another time.

As I have said before, I did not work during the summer. In fact, I did not work during the school year and my parents did not encourage me to work. I knew I would need money and I guess it was coming from the money tree, who knows; if I did what I was supposed to do like cut grass, clean the bathroom, make the beds, do the wash, and whatever my tasks were, the money fairy brought me an allowance every week. If I did those chores, money miraculously got into my hands. Mind you, it was not a lot, but also, I babysat for a whopping $0.50 an hour. 

So, what else did I do the summer before I went off to college, I found out there were reading lists and oh, my word, there were a lot of books to read. I was terrified because I knew how I read and there were so many books to read. So much information to retain. As it turned out, it was good thing I didn’t have a job. Many days, when I wasn’t helping my mom, I would drag my books out and read until my eyes were crossed and my brain couldn’t absorb any more information. I would go do something else and then read some more. Duh! I didn’t think about taking notes, and they were such “interesting books” that the main one I remember is Cry the Beloved Country by Albert Camus. It was a difficult read and I struggled through every page. Another book was A Thurber Carnival. I remember that book had cartoon drawings. The rest of the books were so “memorable” I can’t remember their names. Now, that is pretty sad! Who knew that there would be a test when I got to school in the fall…

The other thing you must do before you go off to college is make sure you have clothing and the things you will need for dorm life. Now, I was going to Averett College in 1967, so, it was not like going to school now. First, you couldn’t have a microwave, they hadn’t been invented. You couldn’t have a popcorn popper. None of those things. Anything you wanted or needed was provided for you or you could go out and buy snacks then bring them back to your room. You could not cook in your room. In fact, they kind of frowned on you doing much of anything other than studying and sleeping. There was no such thing as a television in your dorm room either. It didn’t matter because my parents couldn’t afford that stuff to begin with. The reason I say that my parents couldn’t afford that stuff is because both of my parents were now teachers. As I said earlier, my mother graduated from college the week before I graduated from high school; she received her degree in elementary education. As we already know, my father earned his degree while I was in middle school; he was my seventh-grade history teacher for nine weeks. So, they were pretty much done with what they could do as far as money. They had spent what they had on their college education, for daddy’s advanced degree, Chris’s tuition, and then financing my degree.