My Emancipation Proclamation

Seeing the goal inch forward, I feverishly scribbled line after hastily-crafted line onto my laptop computer. Do these ideas make sense? Is this what the professor wanted? My head divided into multiple trains of thought, all with the same destination. The end of this Syracusian chapter of my life pulls into the station. My parents arrived last night to (oh so literally) help me pack my bags to take this (oh so metaphorical) train ride back to the South. I will miss: these friendly alliances forged after two years, my newly-acquired resistance to cold, the silence of snow-heavy streets.

My parents went to dinner with Travis' family tonight. My mother was hilarious as she created and hyperbolicized differences between the South and these strange Northern folk. She imagined they would all have three eyes and breathe underwater. When she saw the bowl of crystal sugar on the table, she opened her eyes wide and said: "See, in the South we have sugar that's so different from this." My father sat quietly, since he had a hard time understanding anyone who spoke; this was fine in turn, since Travis' mother couldn't understand his swampy South Georgia drawl anyway. I translated as best as I could with neutral American, although I demonstrated my clear bias as I leaned into my mother and made fun of northern accents with her. We laughed in conspiratorial delight.

the rest of the clan flies in over the next two days in preparation for my may 9th graduation. My happy heart flutters at the thought of languid southern summers in exchange for the grey chill of the north.

favorite moment today: the warmth of family filling my heart as I drove home, the moon low and red.