Today is Friday the 13th and though I'm not the superstitious type, this day is weighty and significant and I find myself holding my breath. It is the eve of my first born's high school graduation.
Tomorrow will mark the closing of one door and the opening of another, unleashing expectation and anticipation…and a torrent of tears among many proud mamas, daddies and grands.
It is milestone we all remember, the taste of youth and impossible dreams. She shares some of hers with me and I tell her they're possible. I believe in her. This…this new season is hers to seize and I'm thankful she is eager to embrace the unwritten, the new, the untested. Sad always to me is the one anchored to past and what was, living in glory days seen only in a rear view mirror.
So this morning I feel every ounce of this day and the next, bewildered by how time can possibly be both standing still and blurring by.
Wasn't she just learning to hold a spoon and tie her shoes and ride a bike and park a car?
Breathe…just breathe.
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Written for The Gypsy Mama's five-minute Friday morning writing prompt; I think she must be living inside my head this week :).
Wow, congratulations to both of you! I’m crying a little in anticipation of my own firstborn’s graduation–and it’s 10 years away. I avoid cliches so I won’t say “they grow so fast”. I’ll just think it, and try not to believe it. And then I’ll embrace it, because the future looks good from here. :0)
(Hug.) I can’t imagine what it must feel like, and then again, I can. Such a huge, proud accomplishment for her and for her parents, too. Enjoy the weekend. Enjoy watching your beautiful girl reach for the stars – and catch them, as I know you know that she will. I haven’t been reading blogs much lately but had to pop in and give you some fellow-Mama lovin’. What are her future plans? xo
Congratulations! Breathe deep and savor all that was, is and is to come!
Yes. She was. I think I started writing to process all of those feelings when my daughter graduated from high school. She’s now graduated from college and is married. I have no idea where the time, where the years went. Graduation is such a bittersweet time–a time to hold onto the beautiful memories, measure the regrets and missed opportunities, and offer them all up to God to fill in what was lacking. Blessings to you all in a beautiful graduation celebration.
Oh, Robin! I adore your Mama heart. Praying for you during this bittersweet time right this second!!
Your last sentence really got me! Time goes by so very quickly. But you are right- this is a moment filled with so many possibilities.
Wow! That made me breath and fast forward to my little one year old sweetie graduating. Argggggg! But the possibilities do give you hope. With Joy, Carey
How vividly I remember when my children graduated from high school…and then college. What a precious and yet painful passage this is for you. This is one of my favorite parts of your because I appreciate your positive perspective, “Sad always to me is the one anchored to past and what was, living in glory days seen only in a rear view mirror.”
Congratulations all round – such an exciting time! And it is sweet to remember how far the’ve come from the time you birthed them to each momentous time of transition. Enjoy the celebrations with a full and grateful heart and then send her flying! What a gift to be able to prepare our kids for launching out into this big, wide, wonderful (and yes, sometimes terrifying) world that God has made. Sweet!