BY ANNA RUSH
akrush1@gmail.com
As graduation quickly approaches, many muse that your college years are the best years of your life. The unknown that lies beyond graduation can be daunting.
The mere thought of saying goodbye to the friends you’ve grown so close to over the past few years can bring tears to your eyes. Some of your friends know exactly where they are going, know who they are marrying and have the job that they have always wanted.
In comparison, you might find yourself behind, that you’ve lived your life and now it will soon be over. This idea that now is the best time of your life and now is when you figure it all out could not be further from the truth.
As I have gotten older, I have come to adore and appreciate my grandmother more and more. One of the first things I do when I go back to my hometown is pick up a bottle of good bourbon and head straight to Grandmom’s house where we make mint juleps (with fresh mint from her herb garden, of course) and sit on her porch or walk through her gardens, discussing life and all its ups and downs.
When the melancholy of being a new college graduate set in, Grandmom’s words of wisdom came to the rescue.
Yes, college is an amazing experience. In her college years, she dressed to the nines every day and she was being pursued by one of the coolest boys on campus, with the best car. But the fun didn’t stop there. In her 20s, she married the cool boy in the nice car and moved around the country with him.
At one point they lived in a dilapidated attic apartment in rainy Seattle with a single window. That window, however, opened up to the most magnificent view of Mt. Rainier. They then moved back down south and had a late start with children. With plenty of time and money as a young childless couple, they bought a beach house with other couples and spent the whole summer skiing, tanning and eating seafood fresh from the boat. Having three children brought its own joys and adventures. Soon after, the grandchildren began brightening their lives (with the oldest grandchild being the favorite of them all, obviously). The death of her cool, car-driving college sweetheart did not put a close to the “best years of her life.”
At 80 years old, she has weekly lunch with the girls and can say and do exactly what she pleases. If she wants to have dessert for breakfast, she does. If she wants her second bourbon before the sun sets, she does. Each day is filled with more love, laughter and happiness than her heydays of college.
As you look out to the future, look with excitement and anticipation. Each milestone in life could easily top the last.
With a good attitude and willingness to accept challenges as blessings in disguise, you will be blessed with having each stage be the best stage of your life.
I, personally, hope to have a life as rich and fulfilled as my grandmother’s, and having a granddaughter bring me bourbon on my front porch would be the icing on the cake.
Anna Rush is a second-year law student from Hattiesburg. She graduated from Mississippi State University in 2011. Follow her on Twitter @annakrush.
