Now that Joshua is 18 ... 'he is the man'. He graduated early this year from high school, & elected to not participate in his senior graduation. This decision solely is his. (Kleenex time!) We would have loved to see our first g-son, & only child of our daughter, attend his ceremony.Sooooooo ... following his dictum, I am sharing with you the only graduation of his that will ever be attended.
What a wonderful sunny warm afternoon ceremony ... the children all lined up like soldiers, with their little mortar boards sitting precariously on their wee heads. They were adorable marching down the church aisle to the front. Of course, it was impossible for any of them to stand still ... they fidgeted, shuffled, jabbered with one another ... untiil the teacher directed them to sing the first of 2 or 3 songs. They did a darling job, out of tune, but it was precious ... all those little voices raised to the rafters.
Then the director handed out the diplomas ... one by one they marched up to receive their reward for having endured their first experience in the world of academia.
Me, the photomanic g'ma, was all over the place getting every angle of every movement Joshua made ... along with every other parent trying to edge one another out for that one photo op moment to be captured.
To you, my beloved Joshua ... you may be taking from us all that one special moment right now, but I have these wonderfully precious images of you at your (first) graduation .. they are mine forever. I will be content in just maturing your image fast forward by 14 years ... Oops! There you are in cap & tassle ... oh, how proud of you I (we) am... Chuckle!
Love you forever, you are my (our) precious boy ... sorry, 18 year old man!
Mini & Poppy
(Joshua, Joshua w/Cari in mid photos ... Joshua & Mini Marydon in lower photo)
I know it is hard to understand why our kiddos make the choices that they do...the good thing is (and I know you know this) is that your sweet man/child graduated! I know you are sooo proud.
ReplyDeleteYour sweet blog continues to inspire me my friend. You are a joy!
xoRebecca
How sweet! I know that y'all are so proud of him for graduating! They grow up so fast! He is a handsome young man.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Lee Laurie
Someday all of these children will grow up and realize the hurt that decisions made at 18 can cause. Congratulations to the GRADUATE.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to the graduate, and what a fine young man!! You're a wonderful g'ma for respecting his decisions, I'm sure he has his own good reasons, and he graduated!!! Woot Woot, they grow up soo fast, adorable pics!!
ReplyDelete♥ Teresa
Congratulations to your grandson. You should be proud. Well, I know you are so proud of him. What a handsome boy.
ReplyDeleteSmiles,
June
What a lucky youn man Joshua is to have grandparents that love him and respect his decisions. Children give you so much joy and yes, sometimes heartache but, they are the best thing in all our lives. Just love them and let them know you do and they will grow up into wonderful adults who pass on love to their own children.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Marydon, to you and to your grandson!!! What a wonderful young man. (I do especially love the photo of him as a little guy with you...so cute, both of you!)
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet handsome young man.. Congratulations Joshua.. Walking isn't for everyone, and when they can make their own choices..oohh.. they will.. There is bigger and better in store for him !! Blessings to you all !! hugs ~tea~
ReplyDeleteMy son is attending graduation tomorrow but is not participating. We have homeschooled for a lot of years now but he attended the local highschool for his last two classes. Officially, he wasn't a student there so he can participate in graduation. He's fine with it but I'm a little sad. Oh well, he's healthy, he's behaving, he's growing up... It's hard to imagine that he's becoming the man that I raised him to be. *sigh* My heart hurts a little. ...but I have 3 more to go. :)
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Wednesday. Blessings... Polly
Congratulations on achieving an important milestone for your son and you. He was a cutie as a baby and handsome now...how lucky you both are.
ReplyDeleteYour comment on my post made me laugh. I was shocked to see I was considered active and still gaining weight...I realized I would have to exercise 24/7 to a maybe, possible return to my "body shape" from the past.
All things in their time, I just want to be healthy;-), anything else is icing on the cake.
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteI tagged you on my blog! Come check it out! :)