That September milestone.

Summer of 2014.

September.
When you have children, September is a milestone.

Nursery, primary, secondary - each September heralds that unmissed alarmcall, a new class, a new set of challenges - a few weeks grace of books minus doodles, pens that work, hair that conforms.
And then comes University - only this time September brings mixed emotions.
An empty nest - a room devoid of socks rolled in cobwebs, trailing leads and rap.
Ah, rap - I will never love rap.
All the things that drive you up the wall, you miss.
Until four years pass, in the blink of an eye, and they boomerang straight back home!
Only now they're adults, and that's a whole new challenge.

This is the first September in 19 years that hasn't had the structure of an educational term.
And it's a learning curve...oh my oh my...it certainly is!
I've got used to my own space, my now 22 year old son has got used to uni living.
Two very different worlds.

Summer of '93.
 

 

I never went to university.
Being distracted by many things I shouldn't have, I spent those years and beyond travelling.
When travel meant a rucksack, hitching and an out of date Lonely Planet guide.
And Kibbutz.
What self respecting travelling teen didn't end up on a kibbutz at some point in the 80s???
For me it was four, which brought lifelong friends, a sense of belonging and memories still vivid today.

Kibbutz was my university.




Summer of '88 - well, 21 is close enough to 22!
I'm wearing pink.