Funny Guy Friday... Have I ever told you about my freshman year?

     Funny Guy Friday is written each week by my husband Mark. So, I married a funny guy...
     Grace wants a panini maker. Not sure why, but she has mentioned that she needs one for when she goes away to college in the fall.
     Ugh, my daughter is going to college. I am not old enough to have a daughter in college.
     It was only about four or five years ago that I, myself, graduated from college. I don't want to be one of those old coots that rehashes everything buuuut...
     My freshman year, I lived in the athletic dorm at the University of Maryland on the same wing as most of the basketball players. My roommate and I shared a room that had belonged to Buck Williams the previous year. Buck was an All-American basketball player at Maryland who left a year early to be the first pick in the NBA draft. We used to get his mail which, in my mind, qualified me as some kind of celebrity.
     That room was too small for two guys. I am pretty sure that Buck stayed by himself, but one of him equalled two of us so it was understandable. We had two beds, two desks and a tiny little refrigerator. The refrigerator was kind of a big deal.
      I remember one night I was studying with my door open to the hallway and my desk pushed up against the wall. All of the sudden the room got dark as the door spontaneously shut itself... only it wasn't the door. It was a six-foot-nine hulk-of-a-guy that had two bowling balls strapped to his chest standing in our doorway. He had just transferred in from the University of Minnesota to play basketball. He too eventually played both in the NBA and professionally overseas.
     He asked if he could store his vodka in our little freezer. I told him not only could he store his vodka, he could have the entire refrigerator if he just promised not to eat me. He was a nice guy who limited himself... and his vodka... to some simple storage space.
     The star player that year for the Terps was a kid who chose Maryland because it had a great engineering program, and ever since he was a kid... he loved playing with trains. I remember getting up early one morning to go take an eight o'clock final. As I was getting on the elevator, all of the sudden, this superstar asks me what time it was. I told him it was 7:45 and he looked at his roommate and said, We need to get us an alarm clock next year. 
     How is it possible that an individual could go an entire year of college and not have an alarm clock?
     I suppose it is possible if you are six-foot-six with some sweet moves to the rack, because this guy also made it to the NBA.
     I remember, on the weekends, I used to throw my dirty laundry in a magic bag and head home. I could drop it off in my mother's laundry room on Friday, full of dirty clothes... and POOF!... on Sunday evening, all the dirty clothes were clean and folded and back in the bag.
     Oh, how I wish I still had that bag!
     What a year. But what does my freshman year have to do with Grace's request for a panini machine? Nothing really but.....
      Because Gracie was so excited (and more than willing to make dinner that night), Cheryl ran down to our basement and recovered a brand new George Foreman grill. Only... it was not technically brand new. It had been sitting, unopened, in our basement for nearly twenty years.
      Grace asked why we had never used it before.
      Because it was a gift for your cousin Jonathan. 
      For what? she asked.
      For his high school graduation. We thought it would be a great idea for a college kid to have a George Foreman grill for his dorm room.
      Dad, Jonathan is in his thirties.
      I know. He probably doesn't need it anymore, so we can use it. I don't think he'd mind. 
      I went on to explain to the kids who George Foreman was... an unlikeable young heavyweight champ who lost the title before regaining the championship belt as a lovable 46-year-old teddy bear of a man.
      In between, he made a fortune selling these grills. I concluded by telling the kids that everyone we knew had one of these babies.
      Everyone... except, of course... Jonathan! Matthew chimed in.
      This was true. I bet he would have enjoyed the wonderful paninis Grace made that night. Just as I am sure that he won't mind when she takes it with her to college in August.
       Ugh! My daughter is going off to college.
       I am not old enough to have a daughter going off to college.
       Have I ever told you about my freshman year?