Dark Night

Independence

Once the ceremony was over, graduation was a blast. The family took me to dinner to celebrate my accomplishment and later that night I went to a couple of parties. The house had held a luncheon for alumnae and graduating seniors a couple of weeks earlier, with23 information about how to be an active alumna, a reminder to keep our addresses updated with headquarters, and a little gift, a small silver-plated box with our letters engraved on the lid, lined with red velvet. I put my badge in it. Astonishingly, my Knight grandparents sent a card with an extensive personal note saying that they were proud of me and my academic achievements in an important field of study. This was accompanied by a $500 check. That was the most concentrated expression of goodwill I'd ever received from them. Even my dad was surprised. And I'd received another package from Cartier: a beautiful diamond pendant, half a carat center stone, with three shining platinum ribbons circling it, each of the ribbons set with tiny sparkly diamonds. The card read, "Congrats on graduating with distinction. I predict great things from you. Be happy, Delphinia. All the best--Will." I sent my thanks, of course. It was beautiful, was perfect with my earrings, and I could wear it anywhere. But for the first time, I hoped that this would be the end. Notes like that just felt like he was squooshing my heart.

I had two weeks at home before going back for my internship, for which I would receive credits. Stan was finally healed up after a few minor setbacks and free from the medical and PT team. I went up to the rink with him to help him collect the last of his stuff; it was a solemn time but he was too excited about his future to make it last for long. I couldn't help but contrast him with John and felt grateful for my brother. We horsed around on the ice just for fun and chatted with Krista and Marc. It turned out that while Grandpa was willing to maintain the rental even with Stan moving on, the center had made him an offer and would be taking over as landlords for their older skaters.

Then it was back to LA. This was a practical internship at the school learning about research vessels and even  a little bit about how to maintain and operate the smaller ones. I recertified as a diver, and I went back to Duke's Crossing for three weeks of sleeping in and time with my Grandpa and Stan. My parents were also more present, inviting me over for dinner and asking questions about my internship and grad school. They also insisted on kicking in some money for fees and tuition which was welcome; grad school is more expensive than undergrad even though I'd received two huge scholarships. Mom and Grandpa teamed up and insisted on helping me furnish for my little apartment for my birthday present. I was really excited; this would be my first time living on my own. I'd just planned to visit Target and pick up a few things, but that was squashed. I'd been placed in Keystone/Mentone Apartments, the Keystone building, very nice although I'd been angling for one of the complexes closer to campus; it had a shuttle bus that ran to campus, which would spare me a lot of driving and parking hassles. The apartments had a full--though small--kitchen (including dishwasher!!!!), gas fireplace, air conditioning, laundry facilities on each floor, high speed internet, and basic cable.  There were barbeque areas outside too, and had a covered parking space. But the apartments were unfurnished and the only utilities paid were water and trash.

I had to learn how to set up accounts with the gas and electric companies, and Grandpa urged me to keep a landline--in case of emergencies or power outages, a landline keeps working when VOIP phones or cell phones are overloaded. Grandpa took responsibility for the kitchen, and in addition to the beautiful knives he'd bought me in Japan, took me to good stores for a five piece set of really good pots and pans, all non-stick, plus a cast iron frying pan and a smaller non-stick frying pan, utensils, stoneware with some serving pieces, glassware, and cutlery. And more knives with a nice holder so they wouldn't get dinged in a drawer. And some tools for the grills. A few gadgets like a thermometer, garlic press, cutting boards, measuring cups and spoons, a kitchen scale. I had to finally put my foot down. The kitchen was pretty small.  He was not happy but backed off. And they planned to shop with me so that we could get furniture there. I wanted to facepalm over the fuss but deep inside, it felt nice that they cared.