 |
| Coffee with Dad and Nathan. |
Lively banter kept the older generation riveted. Laughter came easy. Celebratory thoughts lingered. And the mother's at the table felt quite at ease.
Three graduates made for a momentous weekend.
Courtney, my daughter-in-law, walked the stage Friday morning with highest honors due to her 4.1 GPA in applied Linguistics from Georgia State.
Friday night, we celebrated Drew, my nephew, who leaves for the University of Alabama in the fall with a full scholarship.
Saturday afternoon we sat in the Georgia Tech basketball coliseum and cheered when my youngest son, Sam, appeared on the big screen. And now that grades have posted, I can share with certainty that he maintained a 4.0 GPA as he earned his bachelor's degree in business.
Their accomplishments amaze me.
Yet just over three years ago, I sipped coffee across our kitchen table from Sam and Courtney, quite overwhelmed by their request. It was March of their freshman year and they wanted to marry before Christmas.
Since I didn't know Courtney well and the duo hadn't dated but a few months, I was baffled by their insistence on marriage. I was also recovering from my first ankle reconstruction, unaware two more major surgeries lay ahead in a matter of months. So even after several hours of conversation, they wanted a blessing I just could not give.
In time I asked Sam to give me some time and he obliged. During our time out, a series of articles came my way that heralded the benefits of marrying young. Like this one: The Case for Getting Married Young.
I married young. My parents married young. The author of that article married young, and all with good results.
Still, the thought that my son wanted to do the same caused concerns to ricochet through me, leaving me more off kilter than my reconstructed ankle.
Are they ready?
Can they provide for themselves?
Will they regret not living the normal college experience?
The article and a few others spoke. I acquiesced. And the sweet couple married. And while they've endured struggles along the way, they've more than conquered. They survived as a team, intact, with bills paid and excellent grades.
As they took their place among a host of graduates this weekend, I knew I'd been very, very wrong to doubt their choice to marry young. Thus I celebrated their victory in full.
That said, in last week's episode of Madame Secretary, the Secretary of State's college-aged daughter accepted a marriage proposal and planned a wedding in only days. Overwhelmed, even Bess moaned, "It's like my entire history of parental guidance is being erased."
While changing diapers grew boring and I almost drowned in elementary school projects, figuring out my parental role as my boys left for college turned me on my head. Seriously.
After pressing in with everything I had, they were suddenly grown and left me in their wake.
And finally, finally, finally, I realize it's all a very good thing.
With that, I'll continue to dig into my new life and share that I have another book signing scheduled in Douglasville, Tuesday, May 31st from 7-9:30 @ Cabin Fever Roasters.
If you can't make it, check out my new web site page:
But if you live out that way, I hope you'll stop by, enjoy a sandwich (or one of forty different types of coffees), and enjoy live music.
We'll have plenty.
And where there is music, there is joy. And where there is joy, there is life worth living.
I was 20 and she was 19, both in college. 37 years later and going strong!
ReplyDelete