It’s graduation day for the local high schools and I find myself watching families around me cope with the emotions that well up. Pride brings a lump in the throat and produces a pulling oneself up to oneself’s full stature. Sadness brings tears to the eyes over the-” oh the time goes by so fast. “”They were just little a minute ago and now he/s she’s graduating and moving away in the fall to go to XYZ academy. My first one you know. Fright brings a quick retreat from conversation a preoccupation with the cell phone,photo,napkins. “I/we are really worried about him/her and what she will face in a minute or has already begun to dabble in and oh ……what if ….and then what? and the graduate glances away with a quick thought of also escaping. Because of course having not yet embarked. The questions being raised are not really inspiring confidence. My thought becomes,” my the naysayers do abound at a time like this don’t they?”
This year I don’t have one….. a graduate.
So I can watch.
But another year I had one.
So I remember all that.
Because I have weathered that emotional graduation storm I find life more easily enjoyable.
I find a correlation with my with birth.
At the beginning I was buoyed by holding onto the statement,”Remember it’s not the baby’s fault that she’s your first one.”
And as I made my way along adding to our family
I read that it is so fun to have the confidence that you gain with experience and that when they hand you that fifth or sixth child you are really more prepared to enjoy him or her.
Not less emotion.
Just less fear and trembling.
I find that I can celebrate they joy more and put the fears in God’s lap better.
And this year I joke about having launched four of our six and I’m getting the slingshot ready to launch another one next year and then only one more and I’ll be all done with that step!!
It helps to laugh about it and it’s nice to be able to comfort and celebrate in one fell swoop.
