Pomp and Circumstance

Fourteen years ago, my daughter graduated. From pre-school. I remember that night I was thinking about how big she was getting. Shows what I knew. A lot of stuff happens in fourteen years. She went to kindergarten and then elementary school. She learned cursive and went on field trips. She was moved from one state to another and then another and she felt like she didn't fit in. She went to junior high and made tons of new friends, got braces, got her first boyfriend followed by her first broken heart, learned how to drive, went to school dances, had lots of noisy sleepovers. She spent her junior year 700 miles away from home, living in an apartment with her brother. She did her own cleaning, cooking and grocery shopping while maintaining a budget, two part-time jobs, and a 4.0 GPA. A week from tonight, she will don another blue cap (one not made from construction paper) and graduate again. I only hope I can keep from bawling like an idiot because I am so proud of her. Actually, I am in awe of her, particularly when I remember how dumb I was at her age. She is so much cooler than I was.

So Jess, congratulations on an excellent job! We love you so much. There aren't words to describe you, but I think this picture speaks volumes.


Like the windshield says, that is NOT her boyfriend's bike.