Lazy Days of Summer...

Since 2000, each summer has been given a name. And if I look back, I can name summers before then, but I have yet to come up with one for this summer.

Summer 1998 was the Summer of Joe. That was the first summer I had an off-campus place, worked all day, drank at night, and had a great deal of fun.

Summer 1999 was the Bad Time. I was in a horrible relationship that fortunately came to an end in late July of that summer. Thank God for friends.

Summer 2000 was called the Living Off the Land Can I Live Winning Summer. We were so broke it wasn't even remotely funny, thus we were living off the land. The 'we' in question are my friends Seth Pickens, Faraji Whalen, Corey Richardson, Tash Moseley and cameos by Jamal Dedeaux, Johnny Moore and Kasi David. That was perhaps the best summer of my life because we worked together, played together and had an unbelievably enjoyable time. It was the last days of innocence that we could hang on to before the inevitable 'real life' would seperate us.

Summer 2001 was called 'Love is Stronger than Pride', because I must've played that damn song a trillion times while trying to heal the wounds of a broken heart. Without friends, it wouldn've been much more difficult.

Summer 2002 was A Wink and A Smile. Kicked out of the Triplex and the SGA, the life I'd known of comfort and convenience was quite over. If it weren't for the big hearted Resident Directors and the good people at Morehouse, I'd have been out in the cold. Fortunately, these bonds are for life.

Which leads me to Summer 2003. So far so good. I got a bump in the road yesterday from Mr. Stotts, but it'll be alright. Seth suggested that the summer be dubbed Real Life Situations. That has a connotation of danger or lack of safety. However, I think it too harsh for this summer. I'm going to call this one Gettin' Grown. A title like that is pretty self explanatory, but there are a number of adult responsibilities that I need to tackle that I can only do by being grown. So, the summer of 2003 is forever known as Gettin' Grown, and hopefully by the fall, everything will be in place to have made the title more useful than merely for experience.

I'm Joe and that's how I see it.