On a sad thing..

I work in a college admissions office. Today a young woman came in with her mother for an information session. She was recently admitted and intends to enroll for the fall.

The young woman is very bright. If I'm being honest, brighter than a lot of the students we work with. I didn't think anything of her visit, rather, enjoyed hearing the laughter, at least that's what I thought it was, that was coming from the meeting room where they were gathered with a member of my staff. I was glad she was enjoying herself.

The staff member who conducted the session called me into her office after they left. "Can you smell that?"

"Yeah," I replied, "What IS that?"

"Alcohol. Her mother was drunk."

Eight years in the business and this is a first.

My colleague couldn't say enough about the young woman, but she chattered nervously throughout their meeting so her mother couldn't say anything. Her mother yelled and wept throughout the session, even becoming drowsy at one point. As they walked out of my colleague's office, the mother started grabbing some of our college memorabilia; a mug, a blanket, a lunch tote, out of her office before she walked out the door. The daughter apologized and tried to get it back; my colleague said, "It's no problem.. well, except for the blanket."

I'll confess we laughed a little bit about the mother's "shopping spree".

I feel desperately sad, appalled really, and aching for this young woman to get on campus so she can feel what it's like to be normal, and learn who she is, outside of a caretaker for her mother. To be in a place where she only needs to worry about herself.

As someone whose Irish-Catholic family has worked hard at times to keep the alcoholic stereotype alive, you'd think I couldn't be shocked anymore. But I haven't stopped thinking of it ever since, and all I've done is pray to the great whatever that the student was the one who took the car keys on the way home.

I get that alcoholism is an illness; I get that hitting rock bottom is usually the only way out. But I'm enraged by the selfishness of the sick nevertheless. I hope today was her rock bottom.

On the unexplained...

I don't know why it snowed today... why it snowed in North Carolina. Why it snowed and extended our Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend by one day. Why it snowed and allowed me the rest I needed after a sleep deprived night with a sore throat and stuffy nose. Why it snowed and welcomed me to see the history I'm still wrapping my head around.

I write because this will soon be all too commonplace, and what a wonderful reality that will be. But even today I watched Barack Obama take the oath of office and become President of the United States, and I was not greeted with the same emotion I encountered Election Night. No tears like that November Day. No shaky hands. Instead, today, I simply basked in the warmth of the confidence of four years with a leader I can believe in. It's as if I'm already all too used to the first African American President. Like it's suddenly no longer a big deal.

So I write to remember this day. I write in case I need to pass it onto others down the line. I write because, although I am no longer in awe, necessarily, of this moment in history, I mark that the legacy is already building on this, his first day on the job.

I watched a silly program tonight; televised coverage of the Neighborhood Ball. Yet another opportunity for Hollywood to sing Obama's praises, but also a moment to watch Barack and Michelle dance to "At Last", sung live by Beyonce, and be in awe of the youth, of the strength, of the bond of these two people.

There's something in the air. Good times are ahead.

I don't know why it snowed in Carolina today. I'm just glad it did.