Milestones and Memories
Today is May 29, 2016.
This afternoon, our son, Jameson, graduated with honors from Highlands High School.
As a mom, I’m heavy with all the nostalgia and pride that a day like this brings. Cliche as it seems, I let it all wash over me like big, sloppy, pounding waves. I felt everything there was to feel. I came up for air, only to quickly succumb to more feels. Graduation is just the beginning. This is the summer of transition and I’ve been down this road before. The smallest things can make me cry or beam with happiness. There is no reason. It’s just the way it is.
I think pictures are what get me the most and goodness knows I’ve been sorting through scads of them. I sit down to look at just a few and then realize hours have passed. My throat is scratchy, my eyes are red and my nose is stuffy. All around me, random seconds of Jameson growing up — expressing every possible emotion and pose — are frozen on paper and screen. How quickly we amass collections of “remember whens…”
And while I balanced all of the little boy/big boy memories within the context of our family life, felt the waves of feels and shredded a few Kleenex in the processes, there is one thing that nagged me leading into this day.
It was around this time last year that Dave was being diagnosed with Lymphoma, round two.
I tried very hard not to have these two events collide. I didn’t want to drag that particular memory into this milestone. But at some point I had to simply cave into it and reflect what was the past 365 days.
Cliche as it was, it all came back in a wave. A lot of things happened during this year. A lot of growing up. A lot of hanging on. A lot of letting go. A lot of compromise. A lot of holding back. A lot of acceptance. A lot of gratitude. And in the end, triumph.
James, like his brother, had to deal with Senior Year in the shadow. Thankfully, he, too, got a graduation hug from Dad under the willow tree.
These are some of the pictures I’m going to hold tight for quite some time. Taken just a few hours ago, they make me cry and they make me beam with happiness.
Congratulations, Bug. Happy Graduation. I love you.
Nashville or Bust 