High School Graduation

It has been said before, and it will be said until the end of time, but I cannot believe how quickly it all went by. So here we are. My daughter, my little girl, my baby, is graduating from high school.

We were instructed not to cheer and to hold our applause until the end, but the moment the names began to be read, the stands erupted like ravaging hordes at the Colosseum. Every family shouted for their person. Our family was spread across the field and throughout the stands, and when your name was read, I roared as loudly as I could. I shouted your name from somewhere deep inside my body and actually hurt my lower back.

What a treat and a blessing it is to grow old.

We watched you walk forward with confidence and poise, with the perfect posture of an elegant young lady receiving her diploma. You were draped in the cords of your academic achievements, proudly displayed for everyone to see, and our hearts were filled with joy and love for you.

Watching you brought me back to my own graduation from Newtown High School. Sometimes I joke that I have not made much progress because I am still living in the same town where I grew up, but watching you walk forward made me see it differently. Staying here was a choice, not a punishment. It has been a blessing to give you the same small-town upbringing that helped shape me. How incredibly fortunate we are to call this place home.

I wasted a lot of my time here when I was young. I did not always appreciate what was around me, and I did not always make the most of what I had.

You did.

You lived here. You worked hard, participated, showed up, and made something of your time. There is an old saying that things are what you make of them, and you made something beautiful out of these years.

When I graduated, the ceremony was held in the auditorium, and I honestly do not remember much of anything. I do not remember who I sat next to. I could probably guess by thinking about which other last names beginning with G were near mine. I do not remember the speeches, who gave them, or what they said. I do not even remember whether they pronounced our last name correctly, although they probably did not.

I remember that I received my diploma.

I hope you remember more than I did. I hope you remember who spoke, what was said, who sat beside you, and what it felt like to hear your name. I hope you let it sink deeply into your mind and become a happy memory that you can carry with you.

But if one day the details begin to fade, that is okay too. You are still a kid, and there is so much life waiting to live. Even if you forget some of the details, you will still be you.

And if you ever come back and read this, I want you to know what it looked like from our side of the stands.

Your parents loved you. We poured our hearts into you, along with our hopes and dreams. Your Mima, aunts and uncle were there, excited and screaming your name. Everyone was watching you with pride. We were celebrating you, hats and everything.

You were our person, and you will always be our person.

I am so proud of the way you have begun your journey and of the strong footing you have created for yourself. So many of the pitfalls I created in my own life, you have swung neatly over. You will never have to know some of the struggles I created for myself, and that may be one of the greatest gifts a parent can receive.

You are not following my path. You are beginning your own.

You have taken everything we gave you and made it better. That is how it is supposed to work. Each generation takes the family story a little farther down the road of life, and now it is your turn to carry ours forward.

I do not know exactly where the road will take you, but I know how you are stepping onto it. You are walking forward with the confidence, grace, and poise of a lifelong dancer, the same qualities that carried you across that field.

We will continue to watch with eager anticipation as you move on to college. I am so excited for you and for all the new experiences, challenges, and people waiting for you there. We get to watch the beautiful tapestry of your life being stitched together in real time.

We will always be there. I will always be there, loving you to the moon and back.