The Girls are Back in Town

My grandmother, who didn’t speak English – ever — told all of her 11 grandchildren not to send their children away for college because they’ll never return. She was separated from her 2 sons who were studying in Japan when WWII broke out and never saw her eldest son again.  I mused on her advice because I soon moved from Southern California to Santa Cruz to go to college. So when I opened Merit Academy in 1994 to give my girls the best education I could provide, I thought about what she’d said and about being careful what I wished for. 

My grandmother’s words of advice still haunted me but I encouraged my girls to go out to do whatever they believed in.  So Nicole graduated from Merit Academy and went to Stanford, and Jaclyn headed off for Claremont McKenna College.  While they were both still in California, it  worried me that they were moving away from home.  Then, Jaclyn received an amazing job offer in PA and moved across the country, and then Nicole complete medical school at Stanford, and then moved to LA for her residency.  I was proud of my girls but wondered whether we would ever be close again (in proximity).

Two years ago, Jaclyn made the drastic move from PA back to the Bay Area.  It changed everything for us and we’ve come to really appreciate our closeness. Then last week, Nicole made the decision to do her EMS fellowship at UCSF. We are thrilled that she’ll be back home again next summer (2017). It has been 10 years that our girls have lived far away from home, and we are relieved and grateful that they’ve chosen to live close to us, again!