Oh, The Places She'll Go!

Waterplace Luxury Residences, Providence, R.I.
makes the short list for apartment rental.

Within twenty-four hours, my daughter’s, Hannah’s, life seemingly turned on a dime.  Yesterday, her only certainty was that she was graduating from college in sixteen days.  The rest was unwritten.  At eleven a.m., she called me to tell me she had an offer from Brown University; she was offered a coveted job working in a Rhode Island Hospital clinic to treat children with anxiety disorders.  After examining some other, outstanding opportunities, she took the plunge and committed to take the job.  D.C., goodbye, Providence, hello.  She is out the door, down the chute, on the way, thank you very much, Dr. Seuss.  Oh, the Places She’ll Go! 

I realized the luxury of having my best friend from high school (the pair of us graduated from the Mary C. Wheeler School for Girls, Providence, R.I.) work in real estate in Providence. She helped us (narrowly) miss reaching for an apartment in an “undesirable” neighborhood.  My friend then steered us to three other favorable situations. Hannah is sorting her options, reviewing her budget, asking smart questions. In 30 days, she begins a job that requires a two year commitment.  From there, she intends to get her PhD in psychology so she can treat troubled kids.  She will study for another four years before matriculation.  

It strikes me that, at eleven o’clock yesterday, Hannah received an offer that was also a six-year life plan. It is a direction toward which she has been inching for four years.  It is thrilling, daunting, and in every way satisfying to see my daughter, though supported and loved by her father and me, embark on a journey of her own creation.