This is the week leading up to the graduation of our eldest son from Graduate School. There is so much to be proud of!!! The following account is the thoughts and experiences of a mama watching her first baby boy graduate from graduate school!
Monday, May 5th: Today I spent time at coffee with two adorable ladies. They were so kind to listen to me talk about my son, he is graduating from graduate school! ;) I reflected on so many good memories and told of all of his accomplishments. I have never been one to boast about my children. I always want to present my children as real and hardworking, not perfect. I always wished I could be the mother of Jesus, but that position was already taken. I was given the blessing of being my boy's mom through the ups and downs, times of extreme pride and disappointments, but always times of love! I sat with my friends and shared the love of my oldest son and my pride in all his accomplishments.
Later, I went to lunch with another dear friend who seeps the love of God through an unthinkable time of loss in her life. She lost her 21 year old son in February in a car accident. Today she pleaded with me to tell DJ congratulations and how proud she was of him. When you talk about loving others as Jesus does, this is her, she glows with His love!!! I thank her for sharing her journey with me, good and bad, and sharing the joy of my son amidst her pain.
After our lunch I went and bought my son's graduation gift, a NICE watch. While picking the best one with the help of the associate, Helen, I told her this is the son that has gone through phones like most go through paper towels! They just seem to break quickly, stepped on by cleats, in a bag with an exploding Red Bull, dropped on a sidewalk. The excuses endless, the monetary cost exorbitant! She looked at me in such a kind way and said, "He is growing up." That one little statement hit me deeply. The things he has done as a boy are not habits, they are learning. I told her, "I pray so!!!" But I know he is not my little boy anymore, he is an accomplished young man! His season of life is changing and so is mine. I miss him as a little boy, but I am honored to know him as a young man.
Tuesday, May 6th: Today I went to buy a graduation card. I cried in the store.....
'"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." And he worshiped the Lord there.'" 1 Samuel 1: 27-28.
Wednesday, May 7th: Packing for the trip. How do you pack for a weekend that you are emotionally divided on? Is there an outfit for an extremely proud mom? How about an outfit for an emotional basket case? How about an outfit for a mother who will be wanting to hug her 'baby' who is now 6 foot 4 inches, platform shoes with a taser? He is not a fan of a crying mama! Then there is the outfit that will withstand an extremely proud mom that turns into an emotional basket case while trying to hug her 6 foot 4 inch 'baby' while trying to stay warm at a baseball game in Massachusetts, does it exist?
Thursday, May 8th: Today I'm leaving on a jet plane, going to celebrate my boy!!!! A 6am flight is not of my liking but it gets me in early enough to get ready for a gathering honoring the MBA students. When I landed I received a call, 'Mom are you hungry?' Of course I was so lunch was obtained and to his apartment I went, to then be met with, 'Are these clothes ok for tonight? Do you think they need ironing?' Ha! Of course I ironed them! He showed me his Scholar Athlete Sash, beautiful. He gave me his Scholar Athlete plaque. Amazingly smart young man!!! I taxied him to the ball field for practice, one of the last times I will be doing that in college. Bitter sweet! Got in a little nap before the gathering, now raring to go!!!! Here's to a night of honoring my boy/man!
Friday, May 9th: Today is Graduation day for practical students, for my impractical student he will be going to the field 'early' to prepare for the game. It's OK though because they are doing a graduation ceremony on the field at the baseball game. Then there was a knock at my door and I was met with flowers and a card from my very handsome son wishing me a Happy Mother's Day!!! Beautiful!
Later, while looking for parking guidelines to know how to park for the baseball game during graduation day, I stumbled across a live feed for the Graduate School graduation and I was able to watch his friends walk, and I cried. I cried with pride of what my son has accomplished, I cried for the accomplishment of all of the graduates, young and old, poor and wealthy. They have accomplished so much, I hope they all realize. I am so proud of my son, the grandson of paternal grandparents who graduated from Northwestern University and maternal grandparents who did not have that opportunity. Being a daughter of a father who dropped out in 6th grade to work and a mother who left in 11th grade, I boast with pride at the accomplishments of my very intelligent and hard working young man, as I know his grandparents would too!!!
Now here's to the last of three college games that I get to watch for my son to warm up and come in to pitch in relief..
Saturday, May 10th: The day of a surprise! In our crazy life of baseball there are many important events that dad just cannot attend. We have always had Christmas and New Year's together, those are days that baseball is not played and our anniversary is New Year's Eve (methodical planning!). Baseball is an everyday job for eight months a year. However, when something can be done it is! David flies in today to spend today at the game, a senior dinner tonight and the game tomorrow. What a blessing to show DJ how important he is to us!!! And he was very surprised!!!!
Sunday, May 11th: Happy Mother's Day!!! This is the last day of possibly seeing my son play college baseball. He is a reliever so it doesn't always mean he will pitch on any given day. It is a blessing to spend this day with my husband, DJ's friends and teammates and their families!
He pitched!!!!! So happy to see him pitch in one of his last college games!!!!
Monday, May 12th: Today I return home. I leave behind a man whom I am incredibly proud of!!! Undergrad in three years with a 4.0 GPA while playing Division I baseball, a Masters of BusinessAdministration and a Masters of Sports Management with a 3.9 GPAwhile playing baseball!!! Amazing accomplishments...Amazing future ahead!
This is my season of happy tears, what a week. Take time to be blessed by the simple and important things in life. My son has completed another season of his life, and I have also. I know this one thing, my son has the world ahead of him, and so do I.
"Eye has not seen and ear has not heard...all that God has prepared for those who love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9
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