THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 17, 1995 TAG: 9501170046
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: LIFE IN THE PASSING LANE
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Blood is thicker than water. That's the golden rule in the Boyd household.
Even when Michelle, the second oldest of seven kids, fights with her sisters over precious phone time on school nights before the 11 o'clock cutoff time.
Even when arguments break out in the morning over who gets to use the bathroom that has the best lighting.
And especially when there are squabbles over friends or, on a rare occasion, boys.
``We always stick together,'' Michelle said. ``Whenever anything happens, everybody's there.''
Maybe that's why Michelle's parents, Pamela and Walter, worry a little bit that the teenager is so eager to leave the Deep Creek neighborhood where their family has lived for generations.
Next fall, Michelle will head for Norfolk State University, where she'll live in a dorm on campus. NSU has offered her a full scholarship to play basketball and to join the track team.
The scholarship took a big load off Walter's mind. He works day and night fixing cars in a hangar-shaped garage behind his home, just to pay his family's expenses. Footing the bill for college for seven kids would be a strain, but he wants all his girls to go to college.
Michelle is eager for her turn.
``I want to get out on my own, see how it is,'' she said. ``Everybody tells me I won't like it. But I've got to try it sometime.''
Pamela Boyd says her daughter is ``ready for the world.''
Walter Boyd wants her to be prepared for what she will experience.
``She's used to playing all the time,'' he said. ``But college is going to be different.''
Michelle, who has been the star of her teams since junior high school, might ride the bench a little more than she's used to.
``I don't want her to get disappointed. I don't want her to lose sight of the educational aspect,'' Walter Boyd said.
Education is another thing that's highly prized in the Boyd home.
Walter's parents stressed the importance of schooling, including college, for him and his 10 brothers and sisters. He finished three years at Norfolk State. ``Education was the main thing,'' he said. ``It was rough, I know, for my parents.''
So when he sees his kids about to turn on the television or pick up the phone, he can't resist telling them to pick up a book instead.
Pamela checks the younger kids' homework every morning before school, and punishes them if it is not finished. Michelle remembers getting spanked for such offenses. The penalties have gotten a little lighter - restrictions on television and the video games Michelle's younger sisters love to play.
Michelle finishes her homework before heading to basketball practice or games after school.
Even with the occasional aggravation of having so many siblings underfoot at home, she takes pride in how close her family is.
She figures that even though she doesn't relish the idea of having a bunch of kids, her heart probably will lead her to a big family of her own someday. ``A house is not a house if there are not a lot of people in it,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/Staff
Michelle Boyd, foreground, is the second oldest of Pamela and Walter
Boyd's seven children. She takes pride in how close they are.
KEYWORDS: FAMILY VALUES by CNB