little bonfires

last week, our family got some long-awaited good news.  erica was accepted to westmont college as a transfer student for the fall.  she has been at biola for the past two years, and while it is a fantastic school, and she has made some wonderful friends, she found out that she wanted a little more adventure in her college experience than the down-the-street university could offer her.

it all started when lauren began looking at colleges last fall. we took a family trip up to santa barbara to see the school, and the santa barbara seed was planted in erica's heart.  lauren was accepted to westmont in december, and as we began all the discussions with lauren over her top choices, erica listened in with open ears.

we were a little concerned that maybe lauren would want to blaze her own trail, and we didn't want to take anything away from her desire to be completely on her own.  but one conversation about the possiblity of erica joining her there, complete with jumping up and down, squeeling and hugging till they fell over, and we were convinced it would be more than okay.  they will have separate dorms, separate majors, separate friends, but they will be there together.

as a parent, this thrills me to no end. besides those times when we see our children's sensitivity to God's work in their lives, seeing them love each other and want to be together is the most rewarding part of parenting for me.  it gives me a tickle in my chest that comes from someplace deep.

when lauren was born, i think erica would have sent her back if she could have. she had a hard time adjusting to the tiny, red, crying being we were both so absorbed with.  "nornie, stop crying!" she would yell out when lauren got fussy in the evenings, and sometimes she would bop her on the head.  soon, she was teaching "nornie" to blow raspberries with her cereal, and then it continued from there.  they have spent years sharing baths, sharing beds,  sharing books, sharing food, sharing germs, sharing friends,  sharing soccer teams, sharing makeup and hair straighteners and clothes.

we had been waiting for erica to hear from westmont for weeks.  weeks of waiting every day.  weeks full of days.  days full of hours. waiting. when she finally heard and told lauren, what actually happened was exactly like the picture i had in my mind.  there was screaming, squealing, hugging, twirling, jumping, falling over.  and i stood back and felt that tickle rise in my chest.

and then, after the squeeling subsided, the first thing out of lauren's mouth was, "just think, we can go running together, and have breakfast, and have little bonfires!" (at the beach)

running?  breakfast? little bonfires?

we're sending our daughters to westmont college to have "little bonfires?"

and for a moment, my utter glee was tempered by the question i posed to my deleriously happy daughters, "will there be any studying?"

they assured me there would be, which of course i knew.  but twenty years from now, what is it that they will remember about westmont?  will it be the study sessions spent in the library or dormroom?

i doubt it.

i'll bet it will be all the little bonfires.

lornie (3) erica (5)