The Red Flannel Rag

I began to talk to Mom about resigning my job and going to college. I told her I

was thinking about selling my new car I had just bought and buy a cheaper car so I

wouldn’t have a car payment. Mom said, “No, you are not selling your car and buy one

that will break down with you.”

I was really scared to let go of my job so I talked the situation over with Uncle

Shirley. I always had a lot of respect for him. He advised me to not quit my job and go

to college. He calculated how much money I would lose during the four years I would be

in college and said, “You got a sure thing now, and it’s not worth the risk.” At about the

same time, my cousin, Randy — my fishing and hunting partner — located a tract of land

on top of Little North Mountain. He wanted me to buy it with him so we would always

have a place to hunt squirrels.

Meanwhile, Mom, without discussing it with me, went to a bank in Harrisonburg

and applied for student loans to pay off my car debt and reduce the payment to fifty-five

dollars a month. While she was there, she made the first payment.

It was a difficult decision because the three people I respected most — Mom, Uncle

Shirley, and Randy — were giving me opposing opinions, I was in a lot of conflict. It took

a bizarre prediction from another cousin to make up my mind for me. He told me,

“Your head won’t be able to hold all the stuff you have to learn in college. You’ll end up

killing yourself.” That was all I needed to hear. I was angered by his ignorance and lack

of respect for me. I resigned my secretarial job and enrolled full time in college.

Learning was such fun for me. When I received my Bachelors degree, I enrolled in the

Masters program in sociology. I taught four years at Madison College, resigned, and

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