Tobacco Road

Aunt Chris is earning her BSN from Duke University School of Nursing.  This is a 16 month rigorous program and she is about 3 months into it.  Today was Family Day or "Duke Day" as referred to by Paxson and Gracie Myers.  Both kids had no idea what to expect, and they've never been to a college campus before, so this was a totally new experience for them. 

We had a blast!  The kids were greeted, given Duke tattoo's, face painting, nurses caps, and personalized name tags.  It was beyond kid-friendly, and they got to play games, watch a puppet show, play with the equipment, and even "ride on a hospital bed"!  This was a wonderful experience for them and it was right up their alley to get to be honorary nurses for the day...although, GM made it very clear that she was not going to be a nurse, but would be an MD one day!  Once we returned home, Paxson and Gracie Myers set-up a hospital clinic and they operated on not only their mama, but on lots of baby dolls and stuffed animals.  When Paxson said his prayers, he said "Dear God, thank you for Duke Day and for letting me see the Old Well.  Thank you for letting people be doctors and nurses and I hope that one day I can be a Doctor too when I grow-up.  Amen." 

On the way home, we thought we should drive through Chapel Hill to take the kids to see some of the icons that they've only seen in pictures before.  It was such a proud moment for me to walk with them on the campus of UNC.  Our first stop was the Old Well, and they both drank lots of "good luck" water from it.  They also got to run around the quad and we even snuck into an open classroom inside of Gardner Hall.  They wrote on a chalkboard and even sat in their own desks. Paxson wrote his name and Ian and Hunt's names too....I think he has big plans for the three of them to be long-time friends! We rounded out the tour by going to the ADPi house and then to Shibumi, the apartment I lived in during my Junior year.

It was precious to see our children in what was once my element.  I told Bill that my years at UNC were the fastest four years I've ever lived.  It didn't seem to go by so quickly then, but now it seems like a lifetime ago.  When we were pulling out of the parking lot at Shibumi, I saw a cute girl walking by.  I told Bill that I should ask her which apartment was hers, just to see if she lived in the one I lived in.  I wanted to tell her the story about how we discovered that complex after some serious divine intervention after looking at rundown homes in Carboro one afternoon.  I wanted her to know that Ashley, Mickie, Briar, Inie and I were the first people to live there, and I wanted her to realize how special these years are and that they are over in the blink of an eye....that was until Bill reminded me that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to share this with her, because that was in 1996 (15 years ago)....and we were currently driving a minivan!

I guess parenting young kids is a lot like those four special years you spend away at college.  The time we have with our children before they are 18 just goes by in the blink of an eye as well.  At least this go-round, we hopefully have learned from our past adventures to not wish time away, or to hurry-up towards that next phase, but to slow down and enjoy each and every minute.