Three

It's about fifteen minutes before her audition for the piano faculty. She's trying to keep calm--and for some reason she doesn't seem to think my attempts at humor are helping. She's pacing...just like I used to do before a major event. She's ready, but what she's trying to do now is overcome the fear that might hold her back. I tell her she's going to make it, but I'm not sure she believes me. She walks down the hallway, keeping her head up. She turns and gives me a little wave. And forty five minutes later, she's in! Signed, sealed, delivered, etc. They even have a special T-shirt for the music department students. The professor tells her "We don't give these out--they're earned." And off we go...calling home to tell her mother the good news...wearing the shirt in front of the college sign for a picture I'll treasure forever...sleeping all the way back to the airport. And growing up even more. What an amazing young lady.