Graduation

My daughter graduated from high school on Saturday. I'm so grateful for the family and friends who came to wish her well. All of her grandparents have passed away, so she rarely expects a crowd for special occasions. What joy it was to have 15 people there to support her! Thank you all so much.

She, along with several dozen others, was homeschooled for the entire 13 years. As a homeschooler, it's easy to feel that you don't fit, when most other families have made other choices. But gathering with hundreds of people who have made the same decision is so reassuring. We are in the minority, but we aren't alone.

As my daughter says, "I'm unique, just like everyone else." I think my sense of humor has rubbed off on her.

Just finished

I just finished my daughter's last homeschool report. She will graduate in a few weeks. How can it be that thirteen years have passed since we started homeschooling her? Wasn't it just last year that we were learning how to read "stop" and "go"? Just last month we read Little House in the Big Woods? Yesterday that she read Shakespeare for the first time?

She has so much of life ahead of her, most of which won't involve me very much. I'm not sure I'm ready to let go, but it isn't about me. She has to make her own way, bandage her own scraped knees and wipe her own tears, cook her own ramen (okay, she can definitely handle that).

Be careful out there, sweetie. I'll always be here for you, but right now your little sister needs to learn to read "stop" and "go".