Well, the day has come. Our first-born child, Matthew, will be graduating from college tomorrow, so if you’ll permit me, I’d like to reminisce for a few moments. (You can also pass me a tissue…)
So many of us are at this point in our lives. They always tell us that time marches on and waits for no one and to enjoy every moment you can. And yet, here we find ourselves embarking on a new chapter in our lives. We have raised kids and are beginning to (or some of you already have) send them off into the world. As I see my friends on Facebook posting graduation photographs, I know many of us are in the same boat.
What a good feeling it is to know we’ve raised such a great a person. Matt is kind and loving and cares about people. He has been through some tough challenges, namely the passing of his very best friend, Luke. He’s navigated his college career during a pandemic. He recently broke his finger and couldn’t play the rest of his golf season on campus. He made lifelong friends in a fraternity. Yes, these are big hurdles and joys and little hurdles and joys, and yet I can’t help thinking about something my grandfather said: “If they can’t manage the little bumps in life, how will they manage the big ones?” This has certainly been true for all of us with children during the last two and a half years. They have learned how to navigate through something tough, for sure.
Tomorrow, Matt will earn his bachelor’s degree from Widener University outside Philadelphia, PA, with a degree in Business Management and with a minor in Marketing. He was in the Business Honors Program, and thanks to a professor on campus who suggested he look into a job, he’s already secured a full-time position that he’ll start in mid-June. He and his girlfriend are moving to Annapolis, and truthfully, we are just so pleased.
All these things are just great, but I always harken back to what my husband has said about raising our children from day one. Our job was to raise happy, healthy, kind, generous, and self-sufficient children. This has been most important to us, not the grades or the accolades. All of this was possible because of all the love and support he has received over the years from his grandparents, aunts and uncles, his sibling, Ellie, and all of his dear friends and colleagues.
Tomorrow we will raise a toast to Matt; we will remember Luke; and we will wish Matt and Reana all the best as they begin new chapters in their lives.
