This evening my first
grandchild, Maggie, graduates from high school.
If you read Grandma’s Letters from Africa, you’ll
remember Maggie, that little babe I wrote letters to from Africa.
She’s all grown up now. How
can that be?
The words of Sunrise, Sunset tread softly in my mind and heart, and I change a few words for Maggie:
Is this the little girl I
carried?
I don’t remember getting
older, when did she?
When did she get to be a
beauty?
When did she grow to be
so tall?
Wasn’t it yesterday when
she was small?
What words of wisdom can
I give her? How can I help to ease her way?
Sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly flow the days.
Seedlings turn overnight
to sunflowers,
Blossoming even as we
gaze.
(adapted from Bock and Harnick’s song in Fiddler on the Roof)
Graduation: a successful completion.
But we also call the
ceremony a “commencement,” a beginning, a start, a launch.
However we define it,
it’s a major turning point in life.
What do you remember
about your high school graduation? Or your children’s graduation?
What vignettes can you
write to entertain your memoir’s readers?
Does or did your family
have traditions surrounding graduations?
What wisdom can you pass
on to your readers about completion
and new beginnings?
What stories can you tell
to help ease their way?
Be sure to include
photos! They can be priceless.
That is amazing that the little one your wrote home to has passed another major milestone. Time goes too fast.
ReplyDeleteI remember my daughter's high school and college graduations as if they were yesterday. She was a speaker at her high school graduation and I was so proud of her comments to her classmates.
When she received her Bachelors, my husband sobbed and I was grinning so big that no one could wipe my smile off my face. Then off to an open-house for her.
She did not "walk' for her Masters and her PhD, because they were in December and many colleges don't have formal graduations then. If she would have, we would have been there. My husband sobbing because he was so proud and me - laughing, because I would so proud.
Janet, what lovely memories you have of your daughter. Congratulations on raising such a fine young lady. :)
DeleteI don't think I could have kept the tears from flowing if my daughter had been the speaker. Wow.
Have you written a vignette about her graduations? I hope so!
Linda
What a lovely granddaughter you have, and yes, that puts it in perspective that she is the little one you wrote letters to.
ReplyDeleteToday my third son graduated from college, and I was not there to watch him receive his diploma. We have no traditions, but I have to admit this hit me harder than I expected. I am crying as I write this.
Thanks for more ideas for my blog. Congratulations to "little" Maggie.
Oh, Jamie Jo, my heart goes out to you. I wish I could help take away your tears and your heavy heart.
DeleteWhen we lived in Africa, my husband and I missed both our kids' graduations for their Master's degrees, and we missed our son's graduation with his PhD. That's the one that hurt the most. I was so very comforted to know, though, that both sets of his grandparents traveled half way across the US to attend his graduation, and that was very special. Bless their hearts.
Hugs to you, Jamie Jo,
Linda
With that heart-melting smile, your granddaughter just has to have a bright future. I echo your excitement and thoughts. In less than three weeks we'll be watching our oldest grandchild reach out for his high school diploma, and I simultaneously tear up and smile each time I think of it.
ReplyDeleteI've also been thinking of the appropriateness of the word "Commencement" for this transition occasion. Lots to talk and write about with him.
Hi, Sharon, thanks for your kind comments about Maggie. She does have a bright future and we are eager to see the directions her life will take.
DeleteHer graduation last night was lovely. I'm enjoying the photos and replaying so many things in my mind. Grandmothers ponder things a bit differently than do parents; it's a new thing for me to consider that I'm old enough to have a grandchild old enough to go away to college. Like the words in the song, "I don't remember growing older. When did they?"
Have a wonderful time with your grandson at his graduation, Sharon, and thanks for stopping by the blog.
Linda
What a touching story to begin my week on a warm note. Your granddaughter is a beautiful young woman, I can see why you're bursting with pride. And thanks once again for the inspiration and ideas you give the rest of us for telling our own stories.
ReplyDelete