Right now, I'm sitting in a hotel lobby just outside the French Quarter siphoning off some free Wi-Fi like everyone around me who is sitting on these oversized, overused, butt-dimpled couches. The warmth of the sun bathes me and partially blinds me as I type these words. It is a motley crew that darts back and forth past my square of comfortable, but posture-damaging furniture. It is a hustle and bustle of the business people heading out or heading home, mixed with the people who are obviously here to have fun.

I'm wrapping up a 3-day hop here to the Big Easy where my son may or may not attend college. He was accepted to the school we attended and what's more, he fell in love with the town. But not the smut or the promise of rivers of alcohol, but rather, the food and the music --- the kids playing big band jazz in the streets, the art, and the food (that's right I wrote it twice). And he seems to be fully aware that college and all that is the French Quarter are two separate things. He's smiling from ear to ear. Constantly. The last time he smiled like this was the year before he became a teen. And he hasn't smiled much at all since we moved to Atlanta. The experience has left me looking at him a little differently and wondering if maybe he's found his space for the next four years.

Time will tell.

I haven't had much time to blog, or Facebook or do anything. This Year of Restoration has been filled with rewards but I have been burdened like never before. Heading up the social media for an entire company has left me scatterbrained by the end of most of my days. Able to retain little, interested in doing less. Bills are piling up around me at every turn although I'm spending nothing and paying them off at a furious pace. Ignorance is bliss I suppose because I didn't have these concerns when I was unemployed and unable to pay my bills.

I've also been repairing my relationship with my wife. Not having money, not having mutual understanding, not having peace, not being able to work together through the tough times did a real number on us. There are days when I've been tempted to ask myself why keep trying, why carry this mantle and then I just keep on carrying. Here in New Orleans I've been able to take my wife out on a couple of dates and we strolled the streets of the French Quarter together as we did many years ago in Brooklyn and Central Park.

To make a long story short I have been way too busy to blog. Instead I've been growing, changing, fighting and reflecting and my life is changing around me.

Please, bear with me.

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Thoughts? Please, let me know in the Facebook or Disqus comment sections below.

Attention Parents: For those of you with teens who are getting close to college-age, specifically high schoolers in their junior year or younger. I'd like to suggest the Posse Foundation as an option for you.



The time to act is when your child is a junior in high school. Make sure they are tuned in with their high school counselors and make sure their counselor(s) are aware of Posse. They currently have sites in the following cities:

• Atlanta
• Boston
• Chicago
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• New Orleans
• New York
• Washington, D.C. 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here. I'm a Posse volunteer in the Atlanta area and have been brought to tears watching kids earn and receive their scholarships. If I can't assist you I will put you in touch with someone who can.

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Thoughts? Please, let me know in the Facebook or Disqus comment sections below.

I am the father of a senior in high school. Similar to the way things were when I was coming up, he is going to college. The difference between then and now is that I am way more in my son's head about college than my father was in mine.

Being so hands-on in my son's process has caused me to realize remember what an arduous process preparing to go to college is: deciding what schools you want to attend, planning trips to them if your schedule or wallet permits, getting recommendations, filling out applications, scholarships, writing essays, etc.

In the midst of all this I stumbled upon a great website that lays out the basics revolving around going to college and gives both parent and child a timeline to work with, letting you know where you should be in your pursuit of higher education and why you should be considering it, period. And the most beautiful part? It has information available not only to high schoolers, categorized by the year they are in, but also for middle schoolers. Nowadays and maybe all along college should begin to become a topic of conversation at home and school for the 6th through 8th grade set. The Olympic athletes we so revere have been athletes for a LONG time. Shouldn't the same apply when it comes to academic excellence?

The name of the site is KnowHow2Go. Like me, you may have even seen the following PSA on television during a game:




Going to college isn't nearly as harrowing nor frightening when you are prepared and informed. This goes for both parents and kids. Do it sooner, rather than later.


Thoughts? Please, let me know in the comments below. We can also talk about it on Twitter at @EPayneTheDad.