The Four Milestones of 2025

This year, although not spectacular, was relatively peaceful for our little family. Lew spent the year on the mend from his knee surgery in late 2024; I spent most of the year trying to balance out my diet and hormone levels; Little Lewie learned about his lung limitations after his collapsed lung in 2024 (two more doctors' appointments confirmed Lewie would need an inhaler and to understand the "weird feelings" from his lung would be his new norm); and my mom, despite her bouts of tiredness, IBS, and neropathy in her feet, would still be relatively active. Thus, we were grateful that our immediate family and the four of us remained healthy this year.

We took trips to Rehoboth Beach, DE; Manchester, VT; and Sleepy Hollow, NY in between work, school, and our everyday routines. However, I cannot discount 2025 as another humdrum year...  In fact, this year, we had four major milestones...

4. I started my Doctor of Education at the University of Kansas (KU)--home of the Jayhawks. So far, I have taken a class in the summer and two in the fall, for a total of 9 credits, earning As in all three. I made a pact not to pressure myself to get As, so I am over the moon to know I still have what it takes to be a good student. The research papers and keeping up with the readings have been difficult, but the work is fun when you enjoy the subject matter! This has been a huge milestone as I never thought earning an Ed.D. would be in the cards for me. I have several more years to go, but at the very least, I learned I have the willpower to do this. I love my professors, my classmates (we meet virtually once a week), and the program!

3. Lewie received his Driver's Permit. In August, Lewie took the written exam at the DMV and passed with flying colors. Since then, he's been practicing on the road with Daddy Lew and me. The furthest he's traveled so far is about an hour and a half, round-trip, to bring me to my favorite restaurant for my birthday. I signed him up for driving lessons at a local driving school. Before his first lesson, I told Lewie the instructor would most likely have him do a few back roads in the country until he was more experienced. Boy, was I wrong! When we picked him up, he had quite the story to tell. "Guess where I was? You know the hospital I went to for my lung surgery? I passed by that, and I passed by the Peabody Museum!"

"Say what?" Daddy Lew and I both asked in astonishment. The driving instructor basically took Lewie to one of the hardest places to drive in Connecticut--downtown New Haven! Between awful drivers, trucks parked on the side of the road, traffic congestion, and one-way streets, Lewie was subjected to the worst of the worst. (Even I avoid driving in this area like the plague!) "Yeah, there were lots of people that swerved around us and even drove through red lights," he exclaimed. I thought that was a challenging route for a new driver who had been on the road only twice before, but in the end, I was grateful he had the experience. I was surprised by my mom's reaction when she heard the news. "That's one great driving instructor!"

For Christmas, Lewie received the whole "driving package." For $899, he will have virtual class sessions and eight hours worth of lessons. The bonus to spending this money, I learned, is that we will get an insurance discount when he officially gets his license. Many of his friends have had their licenses for over a year by now. Some even have their own cars and drive to school. I feel lucky that Lewie hasn't argued with us about getting it sooner.

2. I turned 50, or as Lewie likes to say, half a century old. I wrote about this milestone in a previous post, but I didn't write about my husband's gift. Only a few days after my birthday, I went to see the Broadway musical Hell's Kitchen at the historic Shubert Theater in NYC. My hubby bought the ticket, and my sister-in-law, Missy (with her best friend, Melanie, and daughter, Sarah), took me out for a day of fun! We picked up Sarah at Fordham University and had a delicious late lunch at an Italian restaurant a few blocks away. From there, we took the subway into Manhattan, where we walked through Times Square before ultimately getting to the theater. It was an outstanding performance, and the best part was that all three of us--Missy, Sarah, and I--were celebrating October birthdays. We didn't get home until well after 1 a.m.!

1. Lewie started the college tour.  As a junior in high school, Lewie is quickly approaching college application time! He's confident he wants to major in computer science and engineering with a possible minor in music. (As a higher education professional, I know we cannot place too much weight on majors at this age, but Lewie is fairly confident his future will be in computer science--gaming and computers have been his passion since he was six years old!) 

So far, we have visited three campus Open Houses this fall — at Sacred Heart University (my alma mater), the University of Connecticut (UCONN), and Quinnipiac University (QU) — in that order. To my surprise, UCONN is his first choice so far, though we won't completely discount the others. After all, I remind Lewie all the time that our ultimate decision will likely hinge on scholarships and financial aid packages. 

We still have a few more college visits to go, but I will write about "the college tour" in the spring after we visit the others — unless we decide to visit a few more during the summer. For now, we are looking at colleges within three hours of home. I don't think that will change, but then again, I never thought Lewie would love UCONN as much as he did either. 

Next year, we will be placing a hyperfocus on scholarships. It will be difficult while I'm attending college myself, but I remind myself every day that Lewie's success is most important. I'm not done being a parent yet!!!

On December 2nd, I had a fun surprise. The UCONN Huskies played the KU Jayhawks in the Big 12 Men's Basketball Conference. Of course, the UCONN Huskies were favored to win, and they did, but I showed Lewie the highlights. If he becomes a Husky, we'll essentially be on opposing teams, since my college is the Jayhawks.  We will see what the future brings!

The College Tour Begins...

Little Lewie knows he will be going to college. Being the child of two college professors/administrators, he has no choice. Although, as a sophomore in high school, he still has some time to decide where he wants to go.

For the longest time, we all thought Lewie might go to the small liberal arts college where I worked for the last 21 years. If I continued working there, his tuition would have been free! Unfortunately, now that I've left my role, we have to look for other economic choices. For example, community college is "free" for Connecticut high school students. He could do his first two years there and then move to a four-year college. He could also be eligible for scholarships. Our plan now is to keep a cautious but open mind.

Two weeks ago, Lewie received his first piece of college mail--a postcard inviting him to become a Bobcat at Quinnipiac University (QU). Let the college tour begin! We laughed because two of my best friends' children are living on QU's campus right now. Being only twenty minutes away from our house, we hope to visit them soon. 

On the other hand, Lewie's older cousin, Sarah, chose to attend Fordham University in the city. At $95,000 per year, attending this college is out of reach for Lewie; however, Sarah earned an academic and a track scholarship, which cover most of the cost.  We are so proud of her!!!

To officially begin "the college tour," we contacted Sarah to see if we could visit her during Lewie's spring break. It might not have been as adventurous as going to Costa Rica last year, but it was an exciting experience. After a quick discussion, we decided that Wednesday, April 16th, worked well with our schedules, and we set out to take the hour-and-twenty-minute drive to the city. It was a frosty day, but the campus was in full bloom with cherry blossom trees, tulips, daffodils, and other budding flowers. The historic buildings in the backdrop made me feel like I was part of a classic movie like the Dead Poets Society. 

Here we are...the only picture of all of us!

While I can't remember all the structures she pointed out during our tour, the two that made the biggest impression were her residence hall (Finlay) and one of her classroom buildings. Her dorm room was one of the coolest rooms we had ever seen! As a triple, it had a bunkbed at the bottom and a spiral staircase to a loft at the top. Her roommates had the bunkbed, and she had the loft! We all climbed the spiral staircase to get her view from the top. We gushed over the setup, but, in secret, we all agreed the loft was a tough place to sleep. The staircase is unforgiving. What if Sarah had to use the bathroom in a hurry, or she woke up groggy? One wrong move, and she could end up with a broken bone or a concussion!

The two boys checking out the loft.

Cautiously coming down the stairs.

The bird's eye view from the loft.

Sarah's classroom building reminded me of a Harry Potter movie—there were dark, medieval hallways, large lecture halls, and candelabra light fixtures. In one empty lecture hall, I couldn't resist getting on the "stage" and pretending like I was conducting my class from the podium. Teaching on that stage—or, ahem, pretend teaching—felt powerful!

After we finished our tour, we promised Sarah dinner at a restaurant of her choice. She selected Enzo's of Arthur Avenue, which offered exquisite Italian food. Since we did a lot of walking, my husband rested his knee in the car while we hoofed it to the restaurant. There at the table, I mostly sat in silence while I listened to Sarah and Lewie talk about college, famous actors she's seen in NY, and just life in general. It was an amazing snapshot in time, for it was just a few years ago when the two of them played Minecraft together as two little kids (ten and seven).  How could they now be talking about college, work, driving, and plans for the future?

After dinner, Sarah had a six-o'clock class to attend, so Lew, Lewie, and I piled into the car to go home before dark. We were so proud to see Sarah in her element; it was the perfect way for Lewie to begin thinking about his next step after high school. Of course, I'm not trying to rush him. I would do anything to make these final high school years last a lifetime.