… and I will be here to witness them.

There are a lot of times when our children make us proud… and there are times when they try our patience.  We even toy with the idea of putting them out on the curb for the gypsies to pick them up; but above all, we always love them.  

 

My beautiful boy had his Commencement Ceremony from Grade 8 today.  I didn’t put a lot of stock in this event, for the simple reason that it was Grade 8.  Big deal.  Commencement ceremonies are traditionally for Grade 12 (at least, that’s the way it was for me).  We’ll celebrate his “graduation” then, not now.  I wasn’t brought up in the world of Junior High or Middle School.  But this morning it hit me.  Two years have come and gone … I wasn’t supposed to be here.  I wasn’t supposed to watch my son cross the stage today.  Someone else was supposed to have the privilege and do that for me.

  

I attended and watched as these students walked across the stage one by one… smiling as I saw all the friends that have grown alongside with my Josef, and thinking, what a great group of young people they are and another realization hit me.  These young men and women will shape the world into something amazing.  One of them may even find a cure, discover an anecdote… some will go on to write, compose, build, invent, shape, design, invest and trade;  most of all, they will contribute to our society.  

 

At the end of the ceremony, I found my son in the courtyard, eating a hot dog, with his diploma neatly folded in four and stuffed into his shirt pocket.  I stared at him in disbelief – he folded the certificate!!!  And with that gorgeous smile, he said he saved it from the mustard.  Josef worked hard this year – very hard.  With all the emotional and mental upheaval we live with, he succeeded.  Not once did he use me an as excuse.  He graduated from Middle School and is on his way to High School.  I am so proud of him!  But true to form, he was more proud of the longboard he completed… the coveted longboard that he spoke about, dreamed about and salivated over since entering middle school three years ago.  After all the pomp and circumstance, the first thing he asked me, was if I wanted to see it.  Of course I did… and it is beautiful.

 

This piece I write today is not to keep reminding you that I am thankful for beating the odds… it’s to remind you to be mindful of all that surrounds you.  So many times we take our children, our spouses and our friends for granted.  We hurt the ones we love, for the simple reason that we assume forgiveness will always be given.  We are more polite to strangers than to the ones who surround us and are the very foundation and walls of our world.  So, I will keep reminding myself and in turn I will continually remind you, that life is a gift and one that is denied to many.  Appreciate it.  Respect it.  Love it.

 

I’m here.  I’m not going anywhere.  There will be so many more moments when my children will make me proud… and I will be here to witness them.  

 

Love, Angela