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He's gone! Ricky's gone!*
Aug. 20th, 2021 06:43 am1. Emma has left for college. It has been a tangle of emotions. Fiona cried every day in the lead up to Emma leaving, and then after Emma actually left, she's been okay. I think it helps that I framed it as Emma going on a series of trips. We're really only going to go about six weeks or so in between seeing her. We'll see her at Labor Day weekend, and at some point in October, and for Thanksgiving week, and for a long time over December and into January, etc.
I have mostly been okay. It's just been little things, like going into her room and seeing it largely bare. We're not big knickknack people, so other than two full bookcases, Emma doesn't have a lot of stuff. Most of her belongings she took with her. So her room is empty now. Or like the day she left when I realized that I should take her placemat and napkin off the dinner table.
But she has called and texted every day since she left of her volition, and while I expect that will die down as she gets more comfortable and busy, it is comforting. When I left for college, I didn't let the door hit my ass on the way out, and I had as little to do with my parents as possible for a long time. I have a lot of guilt for that now even though I think they are to blame for raising me in an oppressive, repressive, conservative environment that I longed to escape. I have to remind myself that Emma actually likes us, is not trying to escape from us, and isn't going to go no contact with us at the first opportunity. LOL
None of her roommates has arrived yet, but the roomie that she's been in contact with over the summer is supposed to arrive today, so she's really excited about that. She's doing good so far, and I'm really proud of her and happy for her.
2. My contributor copy of the McFarland book is on its way to me now! I am so excited to read everyone else's essays.
3. My classes are fantastic this semester. I have grown pretty meh on teaching comp 1 in person because it is so hard to get any sort of enthusiasm out of freshman anymore. They just stare silently at me with the dead eyes, and nobody wants to discuss or participate. It can be excruciating. But this year, all my comp classes are very into it, very participatory, all with good energy. I'm really digging it. I've done some course redesign that I think is working out pretty well, too.
4. * Backstory for post title: years ago, Josh and I were at my parents' church before we had discovered the pro-tip of always scheduling our departure for a Sunday, and they had a guest speaker who proceeded to tell the most nonsensical story about going to New Orleans with a friend and getting lost. This story was punctuated throughout with the exclamation, "He's gone! Ricky's gone!" which we now randomly yell at each other to spice up life. You had to be there, my friends, but maybe you can share just a small bit of the sheer wtfery of a sweaty man hollering into the mic about his lost friend who maybe died that day in New Orleans in the streets of vice and sin. Or possibly it was a metaphor. All I know is that Josh and I clutched each other's hands hard enough to bruise and resolutely did not look at each other and heroically waited to laugh until we were safely behind closed door at my parents' house.
I have mostly been okay. It's just been little things, like going into her room and seeing it largely bare. We're not big knickknack people, so other than two full bookcases, Emma doesn't have a lot of stuff. Most of her belongings she took with her. So her room is empty now. Or like the day she left when I realized that I should take her placemat and napkin off the dinner table.
But she has called and texted every day since she left of her volition, and while I expect that will die down as she gets more comfortable and busy, it is comforting. When I left for college, I didn't let the door hit my ass on the way out, and I had as little to do with my parents as possible for a long time. I have a lot of guilt for that now even though I think they are to blame for raising me in an oppressive, repressive, conservative environment that I longed to escape. I have to remind myself that Emma actually likes us, is not trying to escape from us, and isn't going to go no contact with us at the first opportunity. LOL
None of her roommates has arrived yet, but the roomie that she's been in contact with over the summer is supposed to arrive today, so she's really excited about that. She's doing good so far, and I'm really proud of her and happy for her.
2. My contributor copy of the McFarland book is on its way to me now! I am so excited to read everyone else's essays.
3. My classes are fantastic this semester. I have grown pretty meh on teaching comp 1 in person because it is so hard to get any sort of enthusiasm out of freshman anymore. They just stare silently at me with the dead eyes, and nobody wants to discuss or participate. It can be excruciating. But this year, all my comp classes are very into it, very participatory, all with good energy. I'm really digging it. I've done some course redesign that I think is working out pretty well, too.
4. * Backstory for post title: years ago, Josh and I were at my parents' church before we had discovered the pro-tip of always scheduling our departure for a Sunday, and they had a guest speaker who proceeded to tell the most nonsensical story about going to New Orleans with a friend and getting lost. This story was punctuated throughout with the exclamation, "He's gone! Ricky's gone!" which we now randomly yell at each other to spice up life. You had to be there, my friends, but maybe you can share just a small bit of the sheer wtfery of a sweaty man hollering into the mic about his lost friend who maybe died that day in New Orleans in the streets of vice and sin. Or possibly it was a metaphor. All I know is that Josh and I clutched each other's hands hard enough to bruise and resolutely did not look at each other and heroically waited to laugh until we were safely behind closed door at my parents' house.
