Saturday, June 19, 2010

Back in 1985, when I was 10 and my brother was 8, my parents sent us to Akron, Ohio to stay with our grandparents. My mother was working on her dissertation, and my father had to go London for several weeks, so they just dumped us in Akron. My brother and I loved our grandparents (still do), but to us, spending extended time with the grandparents meant church and lots of it. They made us attend Sunday school, long 11am services and bible study on Wednesdays. Considering we lived in a church-free state when we were at home with our parents, we knew we were headed towards some serious culture shock.

Once we got to Akron, our grandparents had lined up an entire summer worth of plans for us, that went beyond the scope of just church. There was day camp, there were cookouts and parties with cousins, lots of ice cream, basketball at the park, etc. We still longed to be home, but suddenly Akron seemed like a respectable home away from away home option. When our parents rescued us from Akron in mid-August, we appreciated what our grandparents did for us..and we also vowed to never have to stay that long, and we never did..still, we appreciated it.

I say all that because tomorrow morning, my son will be on the plane to Cleveland, Ohio to spend a month with my mother. This is his summer-with-grandparent rite of passage, and the poor kid has NO idea how annoying (and loving of course) my mother can be, but he will learn. He will be in a athletic/academic camp by day, and he will learn at the feet of Dr. Mobley by night, and he will have a ball.

Later on today, when my son arrives v, I will interview him on camera to get his feelings on this matter.

Oh and go buy the new Roots cd that comes out next week

4 comments:

Tiffany said...

Well I am sitting here in Akron right now, watching folks head down the the Lebron James Appreciate Day festivities. I would go but my back is killing me.

Peace, Love and Chocolate
Tiffany

rashad said...

Lebron James day? Are you serious?

Tiffany said...

No I am not. They are trying to get him stay. From what I heard he did show up.

Peace, Love and Chocolate
Tiffany

Anonymous said...

I'm sure he'll have the same mixed feelings. Every spring, I would begin to dread the fact that my parents sent me from our home in NY to Augusta, GA to see relatives for 6 weeks. It wasn't nearly as horrible as I made it seem, but I still didn't want to go. Looking back, they were some of the best summers of my life and I'm sure my parents appreciated the break. Now that I have a son, I can't wait to ship him away for a few weeks. *lol*