Graduation Day

As I type this, we're on the highway somewhere near the Oklahoma/Kansas state line heading to Independence, Kansas for Cody's graduation from ICC. We traveled this same highway almost two years ago. We had just left Cody for his first semester of school. I cried for miles. I remember Michael asking at each little town we passed on our way home, "you ready to stop for lunch or should we keep going"? It was quite a while before I had my tears under control. Every text message from friends checking on me would send a surge of new tears. I couldn't talk to my mom until we reached Texas! I didn't know how I was going to survive this change in our lives. I had just left my first born in a college dorm, several hundred miles from home! Would he be ok? Would he do well in his classes? Would he stay out of trouble? Would he eat? Would he wash his clothes? Would he miss me?

How two years have changed us. I thought it was ironic that the place Cody would gain his independence was named Independence. We survived those first several weeks before he came home. We survived again until Christmas break. We survived the summer break (it was definitely time for him to go back to school after that summer break!). We survived. He did go to class. He did study. He made friends. He did his laundry (or maybe Brooke did!). He stayed out of trouble. He played some of his best golf ever this spring semester. He's graduating. Hopefully along the way he missed us some. What he probably doesn't realize is, he's carried a part of our hearts through all of this. Every milestone. Every accomplishment. Every great shot on the golf course, we've been there in spirit. 

I can not tell you how proud I am of him. It's immeasurable. It's the kind of pride that makes my heart swell, brings tears to my eyes, and a smile to my face.

~jen