Don’t be in a hurry to get to your next journey
It was a bittersweet experience verging between tears and joy, one of those moments in life will be etched in my memory forever. Donning a black cap and gown, my oldest son graduated from Waynesburg Central High School recently. I can remember taking him to kindergarten at Perry Elementary, like it was yesterday.
More than a decade has passed, and the little boy who held my hand as we walked into the elementary school that morning is practically a man.
He is more self-assured and intelligent than I ever was at 18, and my husband and I couldn’t be more proud of him.
I’m not sure where all the years went, all the nights of temperature taking and medicine drops, the endless string of books I read to him and his younger brother, the Boy Scout meetings, the homework assignments, the scraped knees, the nights of catching lightning bugs, the backyard kickball games, the camp fires, the endless fund raisers, the little league baseball and football games, the school poster board and cardboard box projects, the Halloween and birthday parties, the middle school dances, the overnight sleeping parties, the school open houses, the field trips, the football camps and the Friday night football games.
My oldest son is now 18 years old, and one of his journeys has ended. It is with a tear in my eye that I say goodbye to his childhood and high school days. But the pride I feel for his accomplishments and the joy I have for his future, help me to move on and accept the inevitable with a smile on my face.
He is grown up now. Although one era has ended, another bright and exciting odyssey has begun for him.
With this in mind, I wrote this column for my oldest son and offer him this advice.
Each phase of life brings with it its own challenges, failures and triumphs. When we’re young, we can’t wait to get our driver’s licenses. Then, we can’t wait to graduate and be done with high school. Next, we can’t wait to graduate from college, find a career, get married and have children of our own.
But before we know it, the day comes when our children are grown.
As I watched my son walk across the high school auditorium stage to get his diploma, I thought about his childhood and all of the blessings I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy by having him as my son.
I also remembered my own walk across the very same stage and thought about the years that have cascaded by, knowing now that my parents must have felt the same joy and sadness on my graduation day.
So to my son: I hope you take the time to enjoy the “here and now” and appreciate the blessings that you hold today. Don’t spend your days wishing for tomorrow. It will be here soon enough. Don’t be in a hurry to get to your next journey. Instead, enjoy the ride and don’t worry about the road around the corner!