My oldest child graduated from high school last weekend.  Like many parents, I found it to be a bittersweet event.  While I consider all three of my children to be my greatest accomplishments,  and am very proud of each of them, it wouldbe remiss if I were not to mention that there have been days when I was verytempted to run away, and not leave a forwarding address.  In speaking with friends, I was comforted to know that I am not alone in this fantasy… to clarify; I am alone when I run away, just not alone in having thoughts of running away.  Some of my friends dream of sending their kids away, but I am sticking to my guns on this point, it is me who wants to leave… preferably to somewhere warm, it would need to be someplace I could drive to, as I do not like to fly.  It could be as far away as Arizona, I would just break up the trip into several days…, but wait, I feel like I am getting off track!

Our high school has what is called Senior Privileges, where seniors are allowed to leave the school during lunch or a study.  I think this is the schools way of making the transition for us parents sending a child off to college a little easier.  Honestly, having her “pop” home in the middle of the day was downright annoying.  I
would just sit down to enjoy my lunch with a good book when she would appear
out of nowhere.  “Did you make something for me?” or “Hey, do you want to go shopping?”  happened a little too often for me. There were times when I would come home from an appointment and if her car was in the driveway, I would need to circle around the neighborhood a few times to finish off a Starbucks latte I had the nerve to pick up for just myself.  Yes, maybe having her living away from home won’t be such a bad thing.

My daughter worked very hard throughout high school.  She participated in sports, was part of the Peer Leadership group, was co-captain of the dance team this year, has had a job since she was fifteen, and has maintained good grades.  She has been accepted to, and will be attending a top fashion school in New York. While she can be a bit of a drama queen, she makes me laugh every day. 
Sometimes it’s on purpose, other times I am really not sure.  Her goal of making “feathers” an official color has me a little concerned….is she kidding…? 

There is no question that this is a very exciting and emotional time for all of us.  Back in kindergarten her teacher had us do a great project.  She had each kid have their parents write a letter telling a little bit about what they (the child) were like now, and what our hopes were for them in the future.  We put our letters in a paper time capsule marked to be opened in 2012.  After her graduation ceremony this weekend, the family sat down together and my daughter read her letters.  It was literally a “tear fest”, not a dry eye among us.  Such a meaningful moment for our family to share, I am very grateful to her teacher for having us do that, and wish I had done it for my other two children.  Of course, once we finished, and pulled ourselves together, my middle daughter asked for a tape measure.  When I asked her why she needed it, she explained she wanted to start planning how she was going to set up her furniture when she moved into her sister’s room.  So much for sentiment.