I spent the past few days blissfully seeing my elder son graduate from college. Walking through the town with him as he moved from person to person, hugging so many friends we'd never met, hearing adulation from teachers and staff I had to keep reminding myself that this WAS the same person who lay on the couch unmoving for days it seemed. The same young man who told me he had joined the army and was to report for basic training in three days after he kept it a secret for months from us. The same son who made it back from Iraq safe and sound. No, this is not the same son I moved into a freshman dormitory. This is a calmer, more mature, self reliant young man. I look forward to getting to know him.
The challenges ahead will be many and different, but he has already faced many and Sunday afternoon was the proof that he could handle them. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, he came to a fork in the road and he took it.
Congratulations son,
Dad
