078: Where

October 2023

"Three kids in college." Kim says. "At once."

I glance up from a third year student's paper that I'm reviewing. She's lounging on the couch across the living room with the New York Times resting on her lap. Her hair, still as blonde as it was the day I met her, is pulled into a French braid and her black glasses frame her bright eyes perfectly. She's wearing a pair of old jeans and an even older University of California, Berkeley tee shirt. She almost looks like a college student herself, which is an astounding feat for someone who'll be fifty on her next birthday.

I nod slowly. "Can you imagine only having one kid in the house?"

She smiles slightly. "Now that's going to be weird. And quiet. Think about how much less the grocery bill is going to be…and gas! My God, we're only going to be fueling two cars again…"

I chuckle at her excitement. "Whatever we're going to be saving will be nil compared to what we'll be spending in tuition, Kim."

She smiles ruefully. "I'm just trying to put a positive spin on things, here."

I lean my head back against the cushions of the couch. "Where do you think they'll end up?" I ask.

"Max really likes Emory and Eli loved Cal Arts when we visited." She responds matter-of-factly.

I shake my head. "No, no, I mean where they'll end up in life…what they'll do after school, what they'll make of themselves."

Kim raises an eyebrow. "Such big questions, so few answers…"

I sigh. "I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I was their age; Cornell for undergrad, University of Chicago for medical school, work overseas, become chief resident…I had it all, more or less, planned out." I explain.

Kim laughs.

"That's funny how?"

She smiles sweetly. "We just had very different experiences." I nod, encouraging her to continue. "I thought I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was six until my sophomore year of college. First a kindergarten teacher, then a middle school teacher, and finally a high school science teacher. Biology, I learned in 10th grade, was my expertise. So I went to Berkley, mostly just because my SAT scores were good enough, they wanted me to run for them, and I wanted to get out of the Midwest, and was taking all the classes a good biology major takes when I started volunteering at an LGBT center downtown. I realized, then, that I was really, really good at talking to people, and not just in a casual or informal way. So I thought maybe I wanted to be a psychologist, but after a little bit of research I realized that an MD was a better fit. So I studied for my MCATs, ended up back in Illinois at Northwestern, and the rest is kind-of-sort-of history."

I blink slowly. "You wanted to be a kindergarten teacher?"

She nods.

"Why in the world would you ever think of subjecting yourself to that?" I ask.

She sticks her tongue out. "My point is that it may not be wise to speculate on who they'll become or what they'll do…I certainly thought I'd become one thing and became something totally different. Not everyone can have lives so…planned out. That doesn't work for everyone." Her voice has no malice and I know she has a good point.

"I still think I'd like one of them to become a doctor…" I mutter, only partially joking.

"Do you really think the world can handle another Doctor Weaver?" she chides.

My only response is a smirk and tossing toss the throw pillow that sits next to me towards her.