Message from Nam Read Online Free PDF

make him proud of her and follow in his footsteps.
    “And if you don’t get in?” her brother persisted coldbloodedly. “Then will you agree to stay in the South?”
    “Maybe … I don’t know.…” The three Ivy League schools didn’t appeal to her either, and she hadn’t given any serious thought to Stanford or Berkeley. She couldn’t begin to imagine going there, and she didn’t know anyone in California. “I’ll see.”
    “I think you’d better give it some serious thought, Paxton. And you’d better think twice about upsetting Mama.” Why did he have to do this to her? It wasn’t fair. Why did she have to sacrifice her life for them? What did they want from her, and why did they want her there in Savannah? It seemed so pointless. Just so she could go to luncheons and meetings of the Daughters of the Civil War with her mother, and eventually join a bridge club, so Beatrice wouldn’t be “disgraced,” so Paxton stayed within the mold. But she didn’t want the mold. She wanted something more. She wanted to go to the School of Journalism at Radcliffe.
    She had often told Queenie as much, and Queenie was the only one who encouraged her, who loved her enough to be willing to release her. She knew what Paxton needed, and she wanted to see her fly free of the two people who seemed to expect so much from her and had always given her so little. She had a right to more than that in her life, and her mind was so bright, so full of new ideas, she deserved something more than the life she would have if she stayed in Savannah. And if after she went away to school, she wanted to come back, then Queenie would be there to welcome her with open arms. But she wasn’t going to beg her to stay, or nag her like the others.
    The envelope arrived on a Tuesday afternoon, and it was sitting in the mailbox when she got home, along with one from Stanford. And Paxton held her breath the moment she saw them. It was a warm spring afternoon, and she had strolled slowly home, thinking of the boy who had asked her to the spring prom just that afternoon. He was tall and dark and handsome, and she had admired him for the past year, but he had been going with someone else. And now suddenly he was free, and Paxton’s head was full of dreams and wishes. She was going to tell Queenie all about him eventually, and now suddenly, there was the letter she’d been expecting. Her whole future on a sheet of clean white paper, folded and sealed into an envelope from Harvard. Dear Miss Andrews, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to … Dear Miss Andrews, we are sorry to inform you that … which one was it?
    Her hands shook as she took the envelopes out, trying to decide which one to open first, as she sat down on their front steps in front of the solid-looking brick house, and decided to open the one from Radcliffe first, because in truth it was the only one that mattered and she couldn’t bear the suspense of waiting till she had opened the other. She flung her long blond mane over her shoulders and down her back, closed her eyes and leaned against the intricate wrought-iron railings, praying for her father’s blessing on their answer … please … please … oh, please let me have gotten in … She opened her eyes and, as quickly as she could, ripped open the letter. And the opening line was not at all what she had expected. It gave nothing away at all, and droned on endlessly about what a fine institution Harvard was, and what a fine applicant she was, and it was only in the second paragraph that they said what she’d been looking for, and she could almost feel her heart stop as she read it.
    “Although you have all the qualifications to make an excellent candidate for Radcliffe, we feel that … at this time … perhaps another institution … we regret … we are sure that you will do extremely well at any academic institution you choose … we wish you well.…” Tears filled her eyes and the words danced in a