A first step for Kanu and a walk down Mom-Mode memory lane for me

On a recent rainy Monday, Kanu and I loaded up my minivan with as much of his furniture that would fit and headed off to find a place for him to live in Eastman, Ga. Always upbeat, Kanu had given me no indication that his housing situation for college was dire. Several roommate options had materialized and then vanished over the past few months and Kanu was super stressed out but not letting on. Finally, before our fundraiser, he told me that he had no place to stay and was a bit worried. Well that’s all it took for me to go into Mom-Mode and make a plan. We would drive to Eastman the next day we both had off and find a place for him to live.

 

So that day arrived and we headed down south to accomplish 2 goals: one was to open a bank account with all of the money customers, consignors and fellow employees contributed during our fundraising (over $4000!) and two was to find housing. I had 2.5 hours in the car with Kanu to “discuss” what I thought was important, how to manage money, how to stay focused, how to write thank you notes and more. Okay, maybe it was a bit of a lecture but hopefully some of it sank in. And remember, I was in Mom-Mode…..

 

Mustafa, Kanu’s friend who attends the Aviation School, met us and rode with us to various housing possibilities he had already scoped out, saving us a world of time. We saw a trailer in a really remote area but fairly close to the school, public housing and all of that paperwork, unaffordable apartments and condo rentals and finally a one bedroom duplex unit. We decided on the duplex unit because it is close to Mustafa and the shopping district and not a bad bicycle ride to school. The trailer was fine but it was far from everything and Kanu will be traveling by bicycle so this could be problematic. Also, I think he will be more comfortable closer to a friend.

 

We opened his account at the main bank in town where they graciously welcomed him as a customer and offered their own words of wisdom. Mustafa was with us and many of the pretty girls working there stopped by to give him a hug. Somehow, I think these guys are pretty popular in town!

 

We stopped by the campus where Kanu will be spending most of his time and saw the hanger with all of the planes he will be flying including the old Air Tran Plane that serves as a landmark for the left turn to the school.

 

So as a Mom, I now feel that Kanu is going to be okay. He has a home, money in the bank, a few old friends and a few new ones. He has people “at home” who care about him and to come home to.  He has Betsy and me planning random visits to Eastman to check on him and folks who want to send him “care packages”.

It was on the way home from Eastman that Kanu let on just how worried he had been about it all as he thanked me for taking my day off to drive to Eastman with him. He explained how he had hardly been able to focus because the fear of the unknown was taking over and weighing him down. This trip to Eastman, Finders Keepers, his job, his co-workers and customers had blessed him. Now his spirits were lifted, he could be a college kid, be excited about his future.

 

That was my blessing and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.