The Freshman Experiment

Music: Billy Mack (Love Actually OST) – Christmas Is All Around

I was hesitant to write about my break while I was home because it felt strange to talk about my family while they were, oh, five feet away. But now that I’m back at LAC, I feel no desire to hash out what happened. In truth, nothing special occurred. I came back to indifferent siblings who didn’t seem particularly excited that I was home. Actually, they seemed downright surprised to see me, as if Mamajay hadn’t told them of my return. Of course I don’t expect my homecoming to be the main event but it would’ve been nice to feel some enthusiasm on their part.

I was eager to see Dean, my other mom who doesn’t live with us. She’s turned into a quiet woman with years and years of regrets resting heavy between her shoulders. Constantly she walks apologetically around us for tainting our childhood. I’ve forgiven her. All I wanted was to spend a day with her. Yet, she was not that enthused to go out for an afternoon shopping or see a movie. She came for Thanksgiving dinner and then quickly left. I think I saw her for a total of three hours.

On Saturday night I sat alone in my living room, watching movies onDemand and being pissed off at my family. Everyone except my little sister was out and even though I mentioned that I’d be leaving at 8:00 that morning none of them came in to say goodbye. Red did manage to get up and give me a quick hug as I was loading my thing into a friend’s car.

On the flip side, my girls – especially Ginger, Spaz, and the Nuzzler – were incredible. I had barely unpacked my things on Tuesday night when Spaz called and told me what the week was looking like for us. “We’re going to try and see each other everyday, so get ready to be irritated with us by Friday!”

LAC gave me a warm welcome. TK, Mr. New Guy, and my Denisemates all asked about my break and then we fell back into the old rhythms.

Mr. NG surprised me. Ten minutes after he dropped off his things he came down to say hi and tell me how much he missed me while we were away. I seriously melted.

It’s feels nice to be missed, doesn’t it? My family should take a few pointers from Mr. NG.