Like her Mom (also pictured above), a UCR Summa Cum Laude, she does well at school. She has two yellow ropes and three badges. She worked hard, all the time. I know because I was there. I also helped with the things that I knew were roadblocks to learning by having had encountered them myself.
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| Badges? Well actually we do got badges. |
If local conditions were the opposite of conducive to studying, yet she got A's and A+'s doing cray difficult stuff, her fortitude and perseverance would likely be mentioned here. For that, I give her the John Medal, which is some kind of hat. And we would laugh. Then I might haughtily exclaim that I don't believe I mentioned any hats. And we might laugh more.
We laugh a lot, but I can be good with jokes. I never met anyone so like me before. Or that was so much a part of me, and yet I could get along with. My wife remarks how we are like twins. But Gen is also like my wife. I could never toe any line, and was stupid about things for no reason but stopping reality or time. Regina and Gen are less so inclined to tamper.
Gen got awarded the Chancellor's Scholarship from UCR, and yeah, I am proud of that. She will, however, be leaving for school in Santa Barbara way too soon. Her first choice. I think it is great she can go where she isn't living in the giant brown cloud one may see driving east from Yorba Linda.
How will our relationship change? Will she fall away from my cray old dad ways completely? I worry about losing her, when I should be worrying if she would not grow. Much as I would love her to cloy here forever, I know she has to face life. Watching her stay here and be lost in a different way does not wash! Also her mother is game for my jokes too. Not like I lived alone. We can get along too.
One thing we can do is always have somewhere for her to come home to, no matter where we go. There is a future on this current geography that does not include us, I pray. Looking forward to having our daughter come and stay for a bit, find out how her life is going, in our small easy home somewhere different. Sounds pretty cool.
