Well, CJ is back. CJ is kind of like a surrogate son for us. He is going to be a junior at Syracuse U. this fall. He is the same age as my son, Adam. (Adam has spent the past two years at Willamette U. in Salem, Oregon but is transferring this fall to U. of St. Andrew's in SCOTLAND!!!) Anyway, CJ spends most of his time with us, as opposed to his own parents. He has been with us for the past 3 years. He just got back from a week in the SF bay area. Now, he is home for another 2 weeks, and then he is doing "semester at sea"...which means taking college classes while cruising to the Orient and back. He just got back to Portland (tonight) and came straight to see us.
I seem to have a history of taking in kids as 'surrogate mom'. It has happened over and over through the years. I actually feel pretty good about this, really. I had a 'mentor-mom-like-woman' when I was in my late teens through early twenties and it was what really steered my life in a good direction. I like to think I am paying back this experience.
My college-bound daughter spent her day job hunting today. She hates doing this, mostly because she sees every application as a chance to be rejected. And she takes these rejections as personal. I had a talk with her about it, explaining that these businesses may not be hiring or they may have so many applicants that her chances are small. But she went out with a friend today and pounded the pavement. I think that she will feel much better when she lands something and is able to make a contribution to her fall college expenses. Last summer, she had an internship and earned a $1000 stipend. She was totally freaked out about that, too, before she was selected. And in the end, she loved what she did (she worked in a lab at OHSU med school).
Off to bed soon...
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