6.8.23

Class of 2023: My Graduate

On Thursday evening, May 18, Mason walked across the stage and was presented with his high school diploma.  He is now a graduate of the class of 2023.

It's not that I didn't think he would graduate.  I just didn't know what that would look like.  I learned a long time ago that I had to let go of what I thought it would be and accept what the Lord wanted it to be.  For many, many years, that was a much different picture.  I never ever would've chosen Mason's path for any child, much less my child.  But we didn't get to choose the path.  We just got to choose how we would walk that path.  Now that we are on the other side of it (and especially now that he's graduated), I would tell my mom of a 2nd grader struggling to read and be successful in school self that it's okay, it's going to be okay and it's not as big of a deal as I thought it all was.  I NEVER would've believed that for a second.  But I know it to be true now.  That doesn't mean the days weren't long and difficult.  That doesn't mean for a second that it got any easier.  That doesn't mean it just all of a sudden one day went away.  That doesn't mean we didn't have to do some really hard things.  That just means that we dug in and did the really hard things, and it was worth it.  It was all worth it.  And, of course, he graduated.

There were so many days, years even, that it was so hard to imagine Mason graduating.  I certainly didn't imagine it would come with honor cords or honors classes or a dual enrollment class.  But it did.  I had to really prepare my heart for his senior awards ceremony.  I knew names would be called, followed by lists of scholarships, academic achievements and awards.  I wanted to be genuinely happy for those seniors.  They worked hard.  They deserved it.  They earned it.  But then there's the kids who work hard.  So hard.  Their name is called, but the list is short.  Or maybe there isn't even a list at all.  I had prepared my heart for Mason's name to be called but without a list.  That's the way it's pretty much always been.  But if you could see all the hard work and all the accomplishments that aren't lauded with certificates, scholarship money and cords, you would be absolutely amazed at how strong, resilient and smart these kids are that don't have the lists.  Mason's name was called that night, and he even had a list.  It was a short list, but it was a list nonetheless that I didn't see coming.  It was a good night.  But you know what?  Even if there had been no list at all, it still would've been a good night!

The night before the last day of school, I joked with Hannah Kate that I wanted to fill Mason's truck with balloons, but I figured she would be more embarrassed than him if they opened the doors in the school parking lot at dismissal and balloons came out everywhere.  To my surprise, she encouraged me to do it.  I quickly dismissed the idea because we don't have an extra set of keys to his truck, and I wouldn't be able to get in without him knowing.  She's like, "Mason doesn't lock his door at school."  I'm sorry.  What?!?  Well, then, you just invited your mom to make your last day of school!  I parked in another lot and watched him walk out and open his door before I started running across the parking lot yelling at him.  It was great fun.  I've been very intentional in not embarrassing my children at school.  But you ask for it when you don't keep your vehicle locked.  And then he nearly refused a picture and flat out refused to take the balloons out.  But that's fine.    

I don't know.  The days were long.  So very long.  But it seems like we got here so very quickly.

Everyone kept asking me all senior year long if Mason was excited about graduating.  He was.  But I think it was a different kind of excitement.  The elementary years were so bad that even though it eventually got better - and a lot better - the bad just continued to overshadow the good that finally came.  It's almost like you can't really move on and enjoy the good until you completely finish the chapter.  Mason was just ready to be done and turn the page to a new chapter.  

There were several defining moments through the years.  The one that kept coming back to me over and over as graduation day approached was a meeting I was attending when he was in 2nd grade.  We were supposed to be discussing his intervention plan.  The principle was trying to hide her phone underneath the table, but it was very obvious that she was texting.  The SAT Coordinator finally looked at me and suggested that Mason go to the "other school" across town because "this school" just isn't for everyone, and the "other" one isn't as rigorous.  I think, for me, that's the day everything changed.  I was mad.  So mad.  And I stayed mad for a very long time.  My goal from that day forward was simple.  I was determined to prove her wrong.  I've tried to forget about that day, and I did for awhile, but it came roaring back with a vengeance this spring, and I thought about it a lot.  I also thought about it as Mason's name was called to receive his diploma.  I didn't have to prove her wrong.  Mason took care of it.  And he did it even better than I ever could've imagined!

In this case, a picture is worth a thousand million words!  As Mason walked across that stage on May 18, I thought of so many things . . . but what I thought about the most was the people who prayed over him so faithfully and diligently for the past 13 years.  They prayed him to and across that stage.  And I thought about how good God is.  Every step of the way, He chased us with His goodness.  His provision was always right there, and He always put us in the right place at the right time to have the right conversation or the right teacher or the right class.  I have story after story of the Lord doing what only the Lord could do on behalf of Mason.  This post recounts a lot of that.

We had a small party for Mason, and family both near and far (Texas and Georgia) came to celebrate him.  We had a taco bar and his favorites - root beer floats and cookie cakes.  But that's pretty much the only picture I have of that day.

Mason really wasn't into all the senior things, and that's okay.  I almost gave up on senior pictures but decided at the last minute that I would really regret that decision.  And when I say last minute, I mean LAST MINUTE.  A sweet, sweet photographer from our church spent some time with him a couple of weeks before graduation.  I asked for one picture.  That's it.  But she gave me a little more than that.  Mason hates pictures.  I don't know what Mrs. Cathy did that day, but she was so kind and understanding, and she really connected with him.  We spent an hour with her, and I couldn't have asked for better.  Well, maybe a haircut, but that's another story.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my graduate.  Class of 2023.

"I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD . . .

~Jeremiah 29:11

"To Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think . . ."

~Ephesians 3:20

"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."

~Psalm 126:3