Graduation time always stirs up a ton of my emotions. I am always reminded that Mary Elizabeth will never get her chance to graduate from high school. She was not even able to graduate from middle school. She loved school more than any child ever could. She loved learning and socializing~all of it. She loved life in general. She was very smart, super duper smart. She was going to go places and do great things. I have to remind myself that she already has done great things and has gone to the greatest of places even if they were not in the same way I anticipated. By some miracle she was able to attend her 5th grade graduation since she was feeling fairly healthy between chemo treatments. It was a wonderful memory and something I will forever treasure. Her whole class greeted her in hospital masks and they danced the afternoon away. Those same kids are now high school freshmen moving up to be sophomores. I thank God for that special graduation moment we didn’t have to miss because of stupid cancer. Cancer had robbed us of too much already. Life is made up of many
moments. Some moments you want to remember, some you want to forget and some you can’t forget. I always tried to take pictures and keep a vivid record in my mind of the good moments. I never took special moments for granted even before Mary got sick. I was always thankful for all the good in my life. I think deep down I somehow knew to soak up every happiness because it might be fleeting. I didn’t need cancer to remind me. I wish everyone could step back and just be more thankful. All the good moments remind me of my many blessings. They keep me breathing daily and looking forward to tomorrow. The tough moments teach me hard lessons I can’t easily forget.
moments. Some moments you want to remember, some you want to forget and some you can’t forget. I always tried to take pictures and keep a vivid record in my mind of the good moments. I never took special moments for granted even before Mary got sick. I was always thankful for all the good in my life. I think deep down I somehow knew to soak up every happiness because it might be fleeting. I didn’t need cancer to remind me. I wish everyone could step back and just be more thankful. All the good moments remind me of my many blessings. They keep me breathing daily and looking forward to tomorrow. The tough moments teach me hard lessons I can’t easily forget.
Remember when you get sad that your children are growing up there are many that would give anything to be able to see their children grow up and have these wonderful same experiences. It’s a time to cherish not a time to mourn. You can mourn when there are no longer memories to be made. Next year Whit will graduate from 5th grade at the same elementary school Mary did. Maddy will graduate from the middle school Mary never got to attend but wanted to attend so desperately. It will be an emotionally difficult time but I will also remain thankful for the amazing accomplishments of Whit and Maddy. They make us very proud everyday. I know Whit and Maddy live through these wonderful moments knowing they need to make the most of them and live to do the things their sister could not. They learned too young that life is short and nothing is guaranteed. I know Mary is also very proud of them and she is watching them succeed in life from her wonderful new home in Heaven. Maybe my kids are not in all honors classes, they are not always the most athletic, talented or whatever. What they are is happy. They are strong and they are healthy. I’ll take that any day.
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
-Søren Kierkegaard
