Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of lots of memorable experiences—a few memorable for being sad but many more for being happy and exciting. One of my most memorable was going away from home for that watershed moment of attending college.
While we had lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia from 3rd grade through my junior year of high school, the summer between my junior and senior year my dad was transferred to Florida. He was going to be on shore duty for a couple of years so I couldn’t begrudge him the great duty, but wondered (“Why, whyyyyyy, do I have to go, too?” “Because you’re my daughter and where your mother and I go, you go.” Okay, then.) what my life would be like, moving so far away to a place I’d never been, to a new school for my senior year among strangers. I found out soon enough.
Not only was I leaving behind my friends and school, but my boyfriend. Any guesses as to what I missed more? This was in the days before cell phones, internet, or email. Skype was something seen in sci-fi movies. Long distance calls were not cheap and so were infrequent. We were stuck with writing letters. As soon as I arrived in Orlando (long before Disneyworld!) I began exploring how I might find my way back to Virginia.
How I ever came across information for Mary Washington College I don’t remember. The pictures of campus were pretty, as were the photos of Fredericksburg—at that time, a lazy little town of 14,000 or so filled with antique shops and historic buildings. The school’s full name was Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia. 
The South was well-known for having girls’ schools and boys’ schools, and never the twain shall meet. During my day, UVA was all male except for certain disciplines in junior and senior years. (This changed during my junior year when the twains did meet and UVA became co-ed, at which time Mary Washington became simply Mary Washington College.) I didn’t know where Fredericksburg was in relation to where Jack might end up going to school, but at least I would be back in Virginia—if I was accepted. And, thankfully, I was.
I’d had polio as an infant, and except for being in the hospital or visiting my cousins for a couple of weeks, I’d never been away from home. But in the August after graduation, my parents put me on a train in Orlando and sent me, two suitcases, and a trunk up to Fredericksburg, a 24+ hour journey. So after having never traveled alone, I set out on a trip by myself to a part of Virginia I’d never been, to a school I’d never seen. What an experience!
Having led a pretty darn sheltered life, I was like a rube sent to the big city. I caught a cab at the train station in Fredericksburg and was charged double to go a few short blocks to my dorm (I discovered this when I took a cab back to the station at Christmas, when my fare was surprisingly cheap.). Fortunately, I was placed in a suite of rooms with three other very nice (patient) girls who knew their way around. They pointed me up the hill to campus and gave me good directions. For the next three and a half years, I reveled in the glory of the campus, the history of the area (from Revolutionary War to Civil War), the nearness of Washington, D.C. and Richmond, and being only a few hours from Jack—the boyfriend. That trip became my biggest, most memorable adventure to that time.
My trip north to sleepy Fredericksburg allowed me to meet people that have continued to touch my life, gave me my first taste of independence, and introduced me other adventures I’d have missed had I taken the easy route of staying in Florida for school. In many ways, it was life changing. And—as important—it was fun!
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
Naval Maneuvers When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!