A NEW WORLD - College, September, 1960

Wesleyan College

My parents drove me to college in Macon, Georgia, in September of 1960, which was the first and last time they showed any interest in my education.  My dad had graduated from high school, but my mom had left school in the ninth grade to go to work.  They were children of the Depression and knew nothing about higher education and were vaguely suspicious of the whole idea.  None of us knew what to expect.  And we certainly didn't expect the splendor that was Wesleyan.

The Wesleyan campus was the most beautiful place I had ever seen.  Everywhere I looked there were deep rose brick buildings with white columns.  There were cherry trees that would be covered in pink blossom in the spring, a rolling green golf course, a lake near the senior dorm and acres of unspoiled woods.  The College had an indoor swimming pool, a stable, an imposing two-storey library, two art galleries and a lovely dining hall with high ceilings and an impressive fireplace at each end.  There were antiques in the Burden Parlor and white rockers on the loggia (I didn't know what a loggia was.)  And best of all from a drama major's point of view was the huge theater which happened to house the largest organ in the Southeast.  (And, yes, we joked about the largest organ all the time, imagining that we were incredibly witty and original.)  My parents and I slowly took all this in and were rendered speechless.

The Wesleyan dorms

As we walked around the beautiful campus I noticed Mom and Dad were behaving in a peculiar fashion.  I had no idea what was wrong with them,  but I realize now they were intimidated and perhaps a bit jealous.  They had believed I would get a job at Woolworth or perhaps an office and continue to live at home.  That I had somehow been given this opportunity to inhabit a life so different from what theirs had been was beyond their imagination.  They seemed uncomfortable, a bit scared and yes, I think just beneath the surface there lay resentment.  We were all strangely quiet as we brought my few belongings into my assigned room.  Then we silently trooped out to the car and said our goodbyes.  I don't think they hugged me.  None of us knew what we were supposed to do.

After they drove away I wandered about the campus again and then finally went back to my room.  Outside there was a big trunk, lots of suitcases and shoeboxes almost to the ceiling.  Hesitantly, I went in and there was my new roommate, Rosalind, looking very Southern, very pretty and very blonde.  She gave me a dazzling smile.

"Well, hi!  I just don't know what I'm gonna do with only one closet.  Daddy said he would get me another rod in the hardware store and put it up for me and that should help a little bit but I just don't know where I'm gonna put my shoes.  I've got a pair of high heels dyed to match every outfit and then all my flats and my tennis shoes.  I've got 68 pair of shoes.  Isn't that just sad?"  Another sparkling smile.  "I just love my shoes!!"

I smiled back.  This lil gal had 68 pair of shoes.  I had a pair of heels, a pair of flats and some old tennis shoes.  I knew I was in trouble now.

Rosalind came over to me, her huge blue eyes shining, and put her manicured hand on my skinny arm.  "Linda, honey, do you think it would be all right if I put some of my shoes in your closet?"

Lord have mercy.