Oh my "What a melancholy day," I kept thinking. "What a a GREAT day," I kept thinking. The last day of the school year. No more getting up at o' dark thirty. No more homework, folders, missing pencils, lack of appropriate clothes at the last minute, and watching for buses. This also means no more quiet one on one convos with Nic while we sip coffee in the morning mist, watching for approaching lights and listening for the squeal of brakes. No more snuggles on the couch with AJ watching cartoons and contemplating breakfast choices. No more egg sammiches made with half open eyes while groping for the coffeepot. No more stories at the dinner table of who said what, who chased who, and what was going on the next day. It brings more opportunity for outside activities while we soak up every available ray of sunlight. It's the end of one adventure, the beginning of another. Tomorrow, we celebrate with a day trip to the beach before they head off to their Daddy's for a long visit. Saturday brings Erin's high school graduation...another melancholy yet joyous day. This is what we, as parents, work so hard for. What we yell about. What we spend sleepless nights worrying about. What we anticipate, even when they are but a speck in the womb. It's our goal from the moment we hold them in our arms. To see them grow.  To see them pass another year. To watch them become people. Productive, hard working, thoughtful, and responsible adults we can point at and say, "I made that. I did that. That one is MINE!".  A quote...."Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small does not serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.  We are all meant to shine, as children do.  We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.". ~Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles," 1992 (commonly misattributed to Nelson Mandela, 1994 inauguration speech)