I’m reading “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller, recommended by Huck, and the other morning this passage about Achilles’ rather intense sea-nymph goddess mother Thetis gave me pause: “She brought the whole urgent universe wherever she went, portents and angry deities and a thousand looming perils.” I realized at that early hour that this mother must remind Huck of me this year, as he often accused me of giving him emergency, life-threatening news that could ruin his day.

Now I would argue that college essay deadlines are not life-threatening per se, but apparently my delivery is sea-nymph goddess-like at best.

Like so many parents of high school seniors, I’m a little on edge, a little excited, and a little sick to my stomach at all the stimulation of the last few months, culminating in this week when every last college finally made their decision. I take comfort in texts from other mom and dad friends about rejections, acceptances, financial aid packages, quick final college visits, and insomnia. For some unknown reason, I’ve saved every college pamphlet and catalog that appeared in our mailbox over the past year, and lately they’ve been living out their days in a large box on the garage floor, always causing me to shake my head wistfully when I catch sight of them. They represent the excitement of the beginning, the stress of the middle, and all the anti-climatic moments in between before becoming irrelevant toward the end. These colorful brochures have now transitioned to the recycling bin.

I won’t bore you with the details of these last turbulent and sometimes boring months; I’ll skip to the punchline. Huck’s two college contenders are Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the University of Arkansas Honors College Fellowship right here in Fayetteville, where he has been offered more than a full ride. Along with maybe squeezing in a quick visit to Pittsburgh, we’re right now trying to focus on Huck’s school musical, his senior pictures, his final choir concert, his AP exams, his senior recognition night, and finally graduation itself on May 18th.

He has exactly one month from today to make his college decision, and when he does I am sure there will be a Greek tragedy type sigh of relief and gratitude coming from a certain goddess-like mother.