I’ve had writer’s block for a while. I decided to pick up on the last story I intended to write and that seems to have loosed the gates. Here’s the story of my trip to Georgia to take Sophia out to college.
Taking Sophia to College
August 2021
It wasn’t the vacation I had dreamed of. Sophia and I planned on driving along the Gulf Coast where we would stay at an air b n b on the beach and eat fresh, Cajun seafood. Then we would drive up through Florida and spend another night or two on the Atlantic side to visit Aunt Pat and Uncle Chris. I’ve never seen either the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. My church choir director was relieved when we told him that that trip was canceled because of incoming tropical storms and possible hurricanes. I sang in the choir for the first visit of His Grace Gerasim now Bishop of Fort Worth.
Still, it was a lovely drive with Sophia out to Georgia to take her to college. We prepared ourselves with song lists and audio books but spent the entire trip talking. I enjoyed getting to know my daughter a little bit better. She opened up to me more on some of the differences in how she sees the world. We may disagree on many things, but she is such a wonderful person. We even debated abortion and the upcoming legislation in Texas. She spoke from a place of such compassion towards women that I respected all she had to say. She has a kind heart. Though it’s scary to send my child out into the world so far away from my guardianship, I am hopeful that her compassionate and nurturing nature will be a blessing to those she meets.
She was my right-hand woman all summer long. At some point, perhaps after one of her many chocolate runs to the store for me, I asked her if she was being so awesome just to make me miss her more or if it just came naturally.
Sophia chose me as her driving companion because she said her dad snores. I know that my kids are sometimes embarrassed by my quirky nature, so it pleased me that she was wiling to take me along for this journey. I ended up embarrassing her but only once I think.
We left Fort Worth early Monday morning. Sophia had packed up the car beforehand. She vacuum-sealed most everything, and all her belongings fit neatly in the trunk and back seat of her car. The front seats were pushed back so that she would be comfortable sitting on either side to accommodate her awesome pair of gorgeous long legs. We bought some Starbucks at the place down the street from us before heading to the toll road and through the metroplex. I drove the first stretch of the trip through Fort Worth, Dallas and all the tiny cities packed between. I hate that stretch of I-20 but felt more comfortable at the wheel myself. We waved toward Mom as we passed the exit to Kemp, Texas south of Dallas where Mom is buried.
The scenery changed outside of Dallas into a forest that never ended. It was my first trip to The South. I had always imagined The South as farmland and plantations. Nope. From the interstate it looks like trees forever. It was lunchtime when I-20 wound through Shreveport, Louisiana. We looked up Cajun food restaurants in Shreveport and took the proper exit. I drove up to the restaurant, but it was closed whether for that day or for good we couldn’t tell. The next restaurant the phone recommended was closed, and the third was only open for take-out. I feared that Covid had closed everything. So many restaurants in Fort Worth didn’t make it through the shutdowns.
Instead of consulting the phone yet again, I decided to approach a local to ask for advice. Sophia begged me to stay in the car, but I ignored her and walked up to a blue sedan. The woman in the driver’s seat pulled up her mask and rolled down her window an inch. Her hair was curled tight around her face. She was dressed professionally in a button up blouse, and she looked through her gold rimmed glasses with distrust. Her teenaged son sat in the passenger seat fiddling with a nerf gun.
“Hello,” I began.
Sometimes I just open my mouth and start listening to the words falling out.
“My daughter and I have been driving across the country, and we are very hungry…”
The woman’s look turned from distrust to disapproval. I realized that my opening line sounded like something I’ve heard a multitude of times from the beggars in Fort Worth. It occurred to me that the lady was expecting me to say something like, “So please give me twenty dollars.”
Instead, I said, “We’ve been looking for a restaurant with good Louisiana cooking where we can sit down. Can you recommend a place?”
She rolled down the window, took off her mask and smiled at me.
“Welcome to Louisiana! You want to eat at ——–. You need to turn left out this light, turn right at the little airport, go over a bridge and you’ll see it to the left.”
I thanked her and drove off back to the first restaurant we had tried. At least I knew that we had better try the other side of town where we did find a hole-in-a-rock restaurant with excellent Cajun food. They had the best jambalaya I’ve ever had. We tried to eat the local cuisine at every meal for the rest of the trip. When I asked the waiters and waitresses what I should eat to experience their state, they were always so proud of their towns. It did me good to see such local loyalty. The other food that stood out were the fried green tomatoes in Meridian, Mississippi. Our local Tricky Fish has something similar, but eating local cuisine is the real deal.
We were disappointed in Alabama the next day for lunch when we were hankering for a little something and kept our eyes open as we drove through each town. In Oxford, Alabama we saw a sign that had us both yell out, “Soup!” Ah something light and simple sounded so good after the heavy meals we had eaten the day before. We meandered through side streets to find the row of strip mall restaurants that faced the freeway and ran up to the middle store. It smelled all wrong. I backed up and took a second look at the sign where, written in huge bubble letters was the word, “SOAP.”
It was such a disappointment that we got back on the interstate and ate the jerky and dried plantains that Sophia had picked up for us to snack on. We ate again when we arrived at our destination in Tuscaloosa, Alabama home of University of Alabama. Since school had already started and football games had yet to begin, the resort we stayed at was near empty. We hiked down to a waterfall, did embroidery by the side of the lake, and went to a local spa for facials, mani-pedis, and massages.
The next day we drove to meet Mike’s cousin Dan and his wife Dina. We stopped off at a roadside fruit stand and brought them a gift of local peaches muscadines which are like large, bitter grapes. Imagine my surprise when Dina told me that the best peaches are from South Carolina! I had always associated Georgia and peaches. Dina, Sophia, and I really hit it off, and when Dina offered us a place to stay the night, we took it. There’s something so comforting about family resemblance which I immediately saw in Dan. He looks like most of the other cousins in Mike’s dad’s side of the family. Their boys were both off to college and their daughter came home after cheerleading practice and went to her room to do homework after we got back from going out to dinner. She seemed sweet and responsible. They are the most lovely people, and it is a huge comfort to my heart to know that there are good people I can call on just under two hours from where Sophia is going to school. We talked long into the night and only the thought of my early flight ended the conversation.
The next morning, Sophia dropped me off at the airport with time to spare which was great because the Atlanta airport was a mess and security was a rat maze. As she pulled my suitcase from the trunk, I had a flashback to Mom taking me to the airport when I left for college. Maya’s husband Majeed used his taxi to drive me there. We had a huge send off in the terminal with him and Maya and her sons, Mom, Ellen. Gretl, and I can’t remember who else.
It was pre 9-11 so everyone was partying there at the gate. There was much hugging and crying and maybe some dancing. I was excited to fly for my second time and my mind was on what would lie ahead for me. Mom always told the story, “Everyone was waving and crying as you gave your ticket and walked down the tunnel, and you walked straight onto the plane without even turning around.”
I stood at the curb with my suitcase and watched my daughter drive off to her new life. It was hard to tell if she took one last look from her rearview mirror, but I watched and waved just in case.
The tears came later. Sending Sophia off to college has been so much harder than sending Esther off. Mom died just before Esther graduated and that year my grief over losing Mom overshadowed every other feeling. I’m working much more than I should and keeping busy with lesson plans and grading, but lately nothing distracts me from longing for my girls. The house seems empty without them.
When I was in college, my favorite psalm was Psalm 139. I’ve come back to it as a prayer for my children. When I’m thinking of Sophia or Esther, I just change the me to her.
O LORD, You have searched her and known her. 2 You know her sitting down and her rising up;
You understand her thoughts afar off. 3 You comprehend her path and her lying down,
And are acquainted with all her ways. 4 For there is not a word on her tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. 5 You have hedged her behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon her. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
7Where can she go from Your Spirit?
Or where can she flee from Your presence? 8 If she ascends into heaven, You are there; If she make her bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If she takes the wings of the morning,
And dwells in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead her,
And Your right hand shall hold her. 11 If she says, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about her; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
13 For You formed her inward parts;
You covered her in her mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for she is fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well. 15Her frame was not hidden from You,
When she was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw her substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for her,
When as yet there were none of them.
…
23 Search her, O God, and know her heart;
Try her, and know her anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in her,
And lead her in the way everlasting.
Syra's Scribbles 