To the Graduating Class of 2021

     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!