• I watched as a little girl climbed the old oak tree as I drove by. She was struggling to get to the second branch, an ideal place for watching sunsets. I looked away from the window of my dad's car.
    "Dad, you remember when I used to climb that exact same tree? I used to try for hours on end to get to the top, then you'd have to climb up and get me since I was too scared to climb down?"
    "Yeah I do... You climbed that tree everyday we went to the park. That is until you got too old to spend time with your old man. You're growing everyday. You look alot like your Grandmother when she was young."
    'Well.... I don't think I have any crow's feet...' I thought to myself.
    I ran my fingers through my layered brown hair. I thought of how I used to be a tomboy, always out untill 9 PM every summer evening... Beggin the Ice Cream Man For treats, playing with my next door Peter.
    I giggled at the though of how I used to be so boyish.
    "Whatcha Giggling about over there? Something in my hair?" Said my bald dad.
    I giggled even more.
    "Dad remember when you had hair? It was a reddish brown? Remember when I accidentaly dyed it black?"
    "Oh yeah! And your poor mother had to deal with people thinking I was going goth! Hmm... Why are you remembering all of this Jess?"
    "Well... It's just... remebering this place as much as I can... I won't be living here anymore. MY college is in another state."
    I thought back to my acceptance letter to Yale, back in April. I was overcome with the shock, that I nearly fainted.
    I remeber when I was little, I was convinced I would end up going to the local Fitchburg State college Like my Momma and Dad.
    I thought again back to those days.... I loved my daddy so much, I thought I was going to marry someone JUST like him. I thought I was going to live in the sky in a Castle with all my family there. I laughed outloud.
    "What's so funny this time?" My dad observed.
    "Well I was thinking back to the time I thought I was Going to marry someone just like you and live in a castle in the sky!"
    "Well .... You should marry someone like me... That I'll aprove. Your daddy doesn't want his daughter to marry a Creeper!"
    I smiled... We were nearly at the airport by this time.
    I thought about my mom who would never see my college graduation since she had a cancer that would kill her in about a year. I thought about my dad all alone in the house with Sunny and Jessie, our dogs. I thought my brother who fell victim to suicide, he never saw me turn 16. I thought about that little girl climbing that tree. She was so little, without cares. I should've stopped her and told her about the spot to watch sunsets in the tree. I should've told her "Enjoy Childhood when you can!". I should've told her also not to grow up, that life when your grown up is complicated and full of problems. I should've told her, that boys had cooties.
    I thought about how I was like her, watching all my neighbors saying they envied me when they went to college. Now I clearly understood them. It takes one to know one.
    "Jess, your plane is boreding soon. I love you! Please don't drink or partry too much..." my father said turning away.
    "Dad? Really? You're crying? Come on be strong! I'll be back winter vacation!"
    I hugged him and wiped his tears away. I boarded my plane, heading for my new life, not looking back but thinking about that little girl climbing that old oak tree.
    And How I envied her.