What an exciting and daunting time in your life. No more high school but now you are venturing into adulthood and going off to college or joining the workforce. Though it is an exciting time for you, also know that this is a difficult time for your parents/guardians. We are not okay! Our emotions are probably just as all over the place as yours are! We are excited for you, but also want to stop time and to stop you from growing up and moving out.
We have had the last 18 years to
help you navigate through life’s challenges. We have been there when you have
been sad and just needed a hug, we were a sounding board when you had questions
about school or friends or life. We were just a step away and now we are facing
the challenge of you being out of our reach and possibly thousands of miles
away. Though we have done a rather good job of preparing you for the “real”
world there are still so many life lessons to learn, and we worry that we haven’t
taught you the most important ones!
As much as you may roll your eyes
at us when we say we understand, we really do. Maybe not quite on the same
level because we were fortunate to NOT have social media back in the day, but we
understand what you are going through. We had those tough decisions to make, we
dealt with friends that quit talking to us, we dealt with heartbreak and
difficult jobs or classes. So even though you do need to learn from your own
experience, just know that we do have some knowledge and just take what advice
we may give you and file it away for future use.
No matter if you are the first, second,
or last child in your family to graduate, your parents are all still dealing
with crazy emotions. We are dealing with what new our “normal” will be. We are
trying to determine how we can care for you from afar, because just an FYI, we
never stop wanting to protect you and watch over you.
So, enjoy this exciting time, but
give us parents a break. Let us take one more picture of you in your cap and
gown, let us invite friends and family over to celebrate you and your
accomplishments, let us pull out pictures from kindergarten all the way to senior
year and share with everyone – more than likely via a photo collage or
slideshow (with inspiration music of course!)
Not only have you accomplished so
much in the last 13 years of school, but you have handled the last year and a
half dealing with the unknown of remote learning and a pandemic! You are rock
stars! Congratulations Class of 2021!
