Emily graduated from High School!!!
My sweet emms, (as we call her!) her dad called her his M&M for a while when she was younger! She is our miracle! (i know EVERY child is a miracle... i have 2 others!) but Literally, the fact that she is alive is a miracle... multiple times "she should not have lived..." according to the doctor's, but G-d had different plans, WAY different! she has been a tiny bundle of strength, energy and stubborn strong will, since she was conceived!!! and i know that there is a myriad of reasons she is alive today...
As she walked in to the Patriot Center... draped in the endless fold of her blue graduation gown, distinguishable from the crowd only by the white wedge sandals that she wasn't sure she even liked... i spotted her first.
she knew where we were sitting, cell phones had enabled her dad to give her pin point directions to our seats. section 113, 25 rows back, her entourage of 25 loving friends and family, sat, waiting, ready to cheer for her!!
as the graduates filed in to the arena, parents craned their necks, their eyes searching to find their children... small and innocent, in these big people bodies, playing dress up and pretending to be grown ups... surely 18 years couldn't have passed so quickly!! "look for her shoes" i whispered down the line...
and we watched... and waited...
for a long time....
and then there they were... white wedges, that looked beautiful with her simple a-line dress, that caused moments of tension, as she wanted to wear flip-flops and snapped in her frustration and uncertainty, that only highlighted the lovely young woman she was becoming...
there she is!! i whispered, way too loudly!! pointing every so indescreetly! ! there she is!!!... as tears filled my eyes, remembering the many times the doctors said we would never see this day!!! pomp and circumstance played in the background as i slipped my hand into john's and just watched her inch forward in line, approaching her place to begin her march down the aisle!!!
my sister planned the cheer, emily would love it and be embarrassed all at the same time! she love our rowdy outgoing family! she is her mother's daughter... she looks like me, loves like me, and yet she is logical and mathmatically minded like her dad! ;) but she would love the cheer from the gallery when she took her place at the head of the procession... so we plotted and planned...
and just as she stepped forward.... YEAH EMILY...Y-E-A-H!! E--M--I--L--Y!!! Broke out from our cheering section!!! we were loud, exuberant, excited and thrilled!!!
She glanced up... paused, just before she took her first step, and smiled... an Emily smile...
it was a wonderful moment!!!
The ceremony was peppered with cheers and moments of her looking back at us, watching my sisters and family and friends love on her with waves, smiles and cheers! at one point we all did the wave!!! ...and she smiled and shook her head ;)
Her graduation party was small and private, with just family and a few friends, it was intimate and personal! we played games, shared stories and celebrated the gift of her life, her journey and the way that her life and her alive-ness, her faith, her humor, and her inner beauty and brilliance has blessed each of us...
i listened, watched her take it in, and my eyes were filled with tears... joy-filled and wonder-filled at the gift of this tenacious, strongwilled, tender hearted, deep and discerning daughter that i get to call "my daughter."
so... round here it has been just fine!
and i am profoundly grateful!!!
congratulations, she is beautiful! you must be so proud!
Posted by: bobbie | July 05, 2006 at 08:53 AM
Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by: will smama | November 23, 2006 at 07:48 AM
Also, consider the cost of those repairs.
Posted by: windshield replacement | March 14, 2011 at 07:00 AM