My life part three

This  is taking more time than I thought (well to be honest I didn't really think ahead of time how long this would take!), but at 20 minute increments I suppose this is what it is.

So I'm in high school. I neglected to mention Northwood High School which I attended for - and I'm not sure really - for about half of 10th grade, before we moved on up to the new house. So that's seven schools by now. I've lost contact at this point with my grade school buddies but never fear - we reconnect in the future. I skip a lot of school but my grades are fine and I stay out of trouble, miraculously. Then, at the end of 11th grade my parents tell us that we're moving to Ohio. Nobody seems to really know where Ohio is, exactly. That's the East Coast mentality about the rest of the country, true.  My parents drive out with my two youngest sisters (one's an infant) and  the moving van. I, at 16, am charged with driving the family station wagon and Grandmother (she didn't live with us but visited often to help with the arrival of a new baby, or when we moved etc.) and my two middle sisters. I guess this points to my maturity, I'd never have let any of my children do that.  The main two things I remember from this drive: my younger sister K went thru my wallet and found my fake ID while I was behind the wheel and read it out loud so I turned and smacked her (remember Gram was in the car and I was afraid she'd rat me out!) and when we pulled into BV, our new town, K and I began to laugh and cry - it was so different from metropolitan DC.  And that state of shock is pretty much how I spent my senior year of high school. My clothes were different. I was different and in the days before the Internet and cable tv etc there was a real difference between what I knew and what the kids from BV knew. I met a new transplant from New Jersey in the girl's room (I think we were sneaking a smoke?) and Patti and I became friends. Thankfully.  This high school was like something out of the 1950's. I did make another great friend, D - we were lifeguards together at the city pool- and she became a big wheel in the cosmetics business in NYC after college. I encouraged her to make the move to NY and she flourished. Sadly she passed away eight years ago from a brain aneurysm. I miss her as does the world. She had a smile and a love of life that is very rare.

In my ignorance of Ohio I chose to attend Miami U in Oxford OH, which was a poor choice for a free spirit like me. Very preppy,  into Greek life (I was totally ignorant of frats and sororities, had to be told what they were and what 'rush' was); additionally Miami U is small and isolated.

later,
La