Crossing the Threshold to the Rest of Your Life

Exactly 20 years ago this month, I walked across a stage, a mediocre student with no accolades, and took my high school diploma. I couldn’t get out of school fast enough. I had no solid plans beyond getting into a state college. I was engaged, eighteen years old, and I knew everything I needed to know about being an adult. Ri-ight…

Fast forward 20 years. Last Friday I watched my son take those same steps across a life threshold: this time crossing a football field where he’d played kicker and tight end for the past 3 years to graduate with his high school class. My son, ranked 5th in his class, was chosen to lead the Benediction. Far different from his mom who, in her day, was probably more worried about where she and her fiance were going to party that night.

My son was awarded a scholarship to a prestigious school where he plans to earn a science degree and later attend medical school before returning to practice medicine in our community. As for my goals after graduating, I was working fulltime at Mc D’s. After a semester of college, I dropped out. That way, I could work more hours and make more money. Yee haw! School could wait. And it did…for nine years!

Thank God the apple fell far from the tree. My son, who has a lovely girlfriend (also a 2009 grad), has stated he doesn’t want to marry until he’s done with college. And as far as work, he’s taken a part-time job at a medical clinic where his studies come first. The boy is not his mother at age 18!

Maybe he gets his work ethic form his father’s side. I don’t know. But I do know I felt like I’d finally done something great when the announcer called my boy’s name, his list of accomplishments, and his plans for the future. In a way, my son and I are both crossing the threshold of life. Him, into his dream college and career. Me, into publishing when my first book is released this September, a childhood fantasy come true.

Big dreams can be fulfilled.  Some just take longer than others.

Oh, just in case you were wondering, my fiance is now my husband and we celebrate our 2o year anniversary next month. At least I got that part right at age 18!