Dear Lindsey on Graduation Day

Dear Lindsey:

Today you will graduate.

You have confided in me that this will be the greatest day of your life and I think I responded by saying that it might be the most recent greatest day in your life, but it will be the first of many.

I do know this.

You have done something nobody in our family has ever accomplished.

By graduating in the top 4-5% of your class with 99% A's, your academic performance is extraordinary.

You have made all of us so very proud.

I know that your mom, your brother and everyone of us who has watched you evolve over the years will have a tough time keeping dry eyes on this very special day for you, but equally magical day for us.

I would like to take you back to a very special day for me.

We were in your bedroom and you were not very happy.

You had just turned 13.

It should have been a great time for you.

Your middle school progress in school was excellent.

But you were unhappy.

Terribly unhappy.

And that made me very sad as well.

So we talked.

We talked about why the school you had attended for two plus years wasn't working for you any longer.

We talked about why the new school I had worked hard to get you into wasn't to your liking either.

It seemed we had run out of options.

Yet, one thing we could always do was communicate with each other.

And I was looking for something, anything out of you, that would give me a clue as to what I could do next to help.

Finally, you said something that brought it all into focus for me.

"Daddy, it's just that right now, I don't want to be around other people."

The remark froze me.

Because I think anyone can relate.

It might not have been to the degree that this fear of social situations was gripping you, but all of us can relate to wanting to take a break from the pressures of being around people.

And I could sense you needed that break.

And I looked over at your beautiful face.

And I began to cry.

And so did you.

And in that moment, I never loved a human being more than I loved you.

And that has been true since the very first day I laid eyes on you.

And it is true as I write these words with tears again dripping down my face and fogging the keyboard.

I knew that there had to be a solution.

I had no idea what that was.

But I was sure I would find it.

And then we both discovered a home school.

Coincidentally, it was located on the old campus of the elementary school you had graduated from just a few years earlier which had closed after 75 years and had recently been reopened to serve as the district's first home school.

It was just what you needed for social reentry.

And so your metamorphosis began.

You graduated the next year from home school with a class of 20 and the next year, you were ready for a school of 2,500.

How you did it I have no idea.

Yes, there were bumps in the road.

And there will be bumps in the future.

That is what life is all about.

But to accomplish what you have managed to pull off, let me say this.

You are a remarkable woman and as an educator, I am blown away by your academic record.

I have only had one goal for you.

For all of my children, biological and as students.

You and your brother know this as my signature.

I want you to be comfortable in your own skin.

I am sure your continuing journey through college and beyond will lead you in that direction.

Know this.

To explore your true character, you must change your comfort zone.

You did this by going from home school to high school.

You will do this again when you explore the world outside your front door in college and beyond.

Lindsey, you have an amazing talent.

I hope you share your unique mind and its treasury of thoughts with a world who will benefit through their connection with you.

But today, is your day.

A day to recall the past and perhaps glimpse into the future.

But we all focus on the day.

Your day.

Graduation day.

A day for you to shine among the stars of your class.

Today, you are the brightest star in our galaxy.

And for me, my little girl has reached another goal on the road in her life's journey.

Congratulations.

I will be the one gushing in the stands with pride, happiness and gratitude.

I will be the one recalling that day when you were 13.

And thinking about how far you have come.

And how your journey is still just beginning.

And like your favorite book says.

Oh, The Places you will Go!

Daddy
June 23, 2010
Graduation Day