This Spring was supposed to be graduation season for me. I had a son graduating from college and a daughter graduating from high school. One on Mothers Day and one on Fathers Day. I can’t say I was looking forward to the travel, the crowds, or the fierce sunlight that always seems to attack on graduation days. (So many sunburns have been gotten at my kids’ graduations over the years, you’d think I’d learn to bring a hat. 🙂 )
Regardless, I was excited about being there to support my kids and celebrate their accomplishments.
There’s something amazing and inspiring about watching your kid cross that stage, shake hands with a beloved teacher, and get their diploma. You’d think I’d be immune to the moment by now, having attended 4 graduations for my older kids, but that moment never gets old.
In that moment, you know how hard they fought to achieve their dream. You remember the tears and the triumphs. And you feel the deep, deep joy, passion and hope for them to have a great future.
It’s at that moment you realize how deeply invested you are in their success. Heck, not just their successes, but their whole journey. That sudden realization takes your breath away and causes the muscles around your heart to tighten in a way you’ve maybe only felt one other time… on the day they were born.
And you know one deep truth about yourself.
It’s this… “I care.”
A lot.
I care a whole lot.
And nothing will change that.
So this year, I was running around doing my things… running my business, carting kids to activities, buying groceries, and practicing for upcoming dance performances. And in between, I was worrying about how to fit the upcoming graduations in around my travel schedule to various conferences.
I was going to be insanely busy.
And then, March 14 happened. The sky was warm and bright that day. The early Spring air felt good on my skin. I was sitting outside on the sidewalk watching my 11yo practice on her skateboard, when my 15yo sat down beside me and said that graduation had been cancelled.
Poof.
Just like that, my world ended. We went into quarantine the next day. And we remain in quarantine to this day.
Over the last 2 months, my family has learned to homeschool, work together, keep morale up, and we’ve worked at least a billion jigsaw puzzles. But the hardest part has been letting go of the dream that I’ve looked forward to since the day my baby was born 18 years ago… watching her cross the stage and graduate from high school.
So when I heard that Marcella Allison felt a call on her heart to do a virtual graduation, I leapt at the chance to participate.
I grabbed my daughter’s attention in the kitchen and said, “I don’t know if you’ll think this is crazy, but would you like to do a virtual graduation with me and some other mothers and daughters? We’d love to celebrate you. And you can wear your ‘everyday tiara.’”
(Because yes, we’re the sort of people who love bling… every day.)
She smiled and said, “Sure. That would be nice.”
So that’s my story of a little thing I’m doing to help my daughter understand that she’s loved GIANT much. I hope she remembers how much I care and how much I wanted to see her cross that stage. But mostly I hope she remembers that she’s a valuable, important person in her own right, and that I’ll make up excuses to celebrate her no matter what!
If you have a daughter, niece, or granddaughter that’s graduating from high school or college this Spring, I’d love to invite you to attend the Women Rise Virtual Graduation hosted by Marcella Allison, the Fearless Leader of the Not-So-Secret Order of the Titanides, on May 14.
It’ll be an intimate gathering of women who want to celebrate the accomplishments of the daughters, nieces, and granddaughters that mean the world to us.
There’s no charge to attend.
Click here to register for the Women Rise Virtual Graduation:
Marcella is also offering a FREE pdf version of her book, “Why Didn’t Anybody Tell Me This Sh*t Before?” The book is a collection of heartfelt letters written by women to their younger selves.
Some letters are raw and shocking, while others are funny and uplifting. But every letter contains a multi-faceted lesson that will empower and inspire you, no matter your age, or your experience.
And it makes a perfect graduation gift. You can get the free digital book here.
P.S. What about my son’s graduation? Because he’s in college, it was easy for him to defer his final semester to next year. He moved home for the summer. He’s going to finish his degree in the Fall. And yes, I’m planning on watching him cross the stage and get that degree. He’s earned it.
P.P.S. Feel free to share the link for the free pdf of “Why Didn’t Anybody Tell Me This Sh*t Before?” with other women in your life that can benefit from the wit and wisdom from women in business. Here’s the link again: https://titanides.com/graduationgift/
