Happy Monday, Journeyer!!

My last child has gone and graduated!!

And in glorious, Valedictorian style!

It’s been a grueling week of planning…

of trying to corral some of the clutter that accrued during the recent house renovations…

of keeping schedules and appointments and arrivals and departures…

an event I orchestrated to share some girl time with my family ended up with my feelings being hurt and me spewing out years of hurt and frustration…

and to top it all off?

I came down with diarrhea on graduation night and it still hasn’t gone away!

Ugh…

But in the end, our final Project Graduation night went off without incident and the graduates had a great time…

I was able to hug family and friends I don’t see nearly enough (you know how much I LOVE hugs!)…

My mother, sister, and step mom helped me pull together a celebration that wouldn’t have been nearly as complete had I been left to undertake it all by myself…

Next stop: Empty Nest!

“I’m looking forward to having only our own schedules to worry about,” I said to Warren last week.

Don’t get me wrong, I am happy our children lead active lives and I’m happy to attend whatever events they are involved in.

I’ve enjoyed following them throughout their community and school events and I’ve given them everything I had to help them be independent young adults. But now it’s their time to share their many talents with an even bigger world!

The fact that my children have the ability, knowledge, and confidence to make the leap into Adulthood makes me happy.

We’re all graduating–mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters–from roles we’ve played over the past two decades and moving into new versions our selves!

As I’ve always told me little ones, “We can learn something new every day if our mind is open to it. It might be something as simple as someone’s name, but it is learning, nonetheless.”

That makes me happy, Journeyer!

Where will your graduation take you?

Until we meet again, yours in hope, healing, and happiness!