Rite of Passage

Four years ago, my husband and oldest child began what has turned into a rite of passage: Dad-and-high-school-senior lining up for over 12 hours outside a store on Thanksgiving night, to buy the laptop computer destined to be taken to college next fall. The strategy is the two of them take turns staying in one spot in line, with alternating breaks in the car to warm up. When Luke did it with Steve in 2003, we had not yet become a family of cell phone owners. I waved them goodbye, after arming them with thermos flasks filled with hot chocolate and soup, and didn’t know until the next morning that their quest had been successful. They had walkie-talkies to communicate with each other, but Luke is still proud of the fact that he stayed in line all night, not calling his dad to take over at all. Not until the credit card was needed, at least. The laptop they bought is still in service, a few months before Luke is set to graduate from Western Oregon University.

In 2005, Maxwell “The Younger Son” went out with his father. It rained, but they waited at a store with an overhang so stayed relatively unscathed. Not so the laptop, which suffered an unfortunate fall from the upper bunk mid-way through the first year at Princeton. When something like that happens (and they happen, even with prized possessions), it’s some comfort to know the thing cost a fraction of the sticker price in the first place.

So tonight, it’s Ali’s turn. She has been looking forward to the event for months. Indeed, for the past week it’s been the main topic of conversation at dinner, and she and Steve spent much of the day planning what to get, where, and how. I lost count of the number of times Steve said, “Dress warmly”, with the result she was bundled up to twice her usual size when she left, and could hardly climb into the car. When they arrived at their target a little after 5 p.m., Ali was 29th in line, with a limit of 15 per store of the laptop they decided is The One. They think some of those ahead of them want other items, and are hopeful. I went to another location of the store to see if the line was shorter, and was told it started forming at 10 a.m. this morning. As I walked down it, counting, a man close to the beginning held up a sign saying, “Will sell items/voucher”, i.e., his place in line. Enterprising, but not quite in the spirit of the event. Communicating by cell phone, we agreed they should stay in 29th place, where they are.

It is a bitterly cold, windy night. A night when especially I hope people who don’t have a home will find shelter and rest. But I feel a strange satisfaction, thinking of my little girl sitting out there in the line, braving the elements. She’s not little any more. She’s ready to follow her brothers out into the world.

The Thanksgiving Night College Laptop Stake-out. A rite of passage for Steve and his children. And a ritual for me, warm at home, by myself. Thinking of all the joys of mothering each little one, and of the future delights relating to them as grown, sweet, adults.

Wave and smile, little girl, daughter of mine, daughter of Steve. I love the woman you’re becoming. Southern Oregon University, majoring in Theater Arts, sounds like a good Adventure for our awesome Ali. I hope your laptop works out for you there.