And the voice you need to hear is the true and the trusted kind
With a soft, familiar rhythm in these swirling, unsure times
When the waves are lapping in and you're not sure you can swim
Well here's the lifeline
("This is Love"/Mary Chapin Carpenter)
With a soft, familiar rhythm in these swirling, unsure times
When the waves are lapping in and you're not sure you can swim
Well here's the lifeline
("This is Love"/Mary Chapin Carpenter)
Several months ago I started putting together my life story in the form of a scrapbook. Tonight, I pulled it out again and took a lovely stroll through my memory. I reached for the last set of pictures to go in the book and stopped at the very last one--my high school graduation.
The event was a little different for me. Basically, I withdrew myself from high school after the first semester of my junior year of high school. Between my mother's deteriorating mental health and my desperate attempts to hold together the family I had left, I could find no significance to sitting in American Government discussing upcoming football games. High school life seemed so self-absorbed and meaningless...exactly what it should be. On top of all this, I was harassed daily in class and the hallways by someone, and it was just too much to deal with.
I worked full time during the day and finished my few remaining courses at night school. Those few months are still a blur, but in my typical fashion, I pushed myself to get everything done in record time. I held my high school diploma in my hands seven months early.
The adult school had a special "graduation" ceremony for students who earned either their diploma or G.E.D. Although, it was nice to be part of the event, I could help but feel depressed, wondering just what I had traded in my haste. While my friends were still writing term papers and going to club meetings, I was earning a paycheck. I was no longer a part of their club that consisted of study sessions and parties and summer plans. What did I have to show for myself?
On top of all this, this graduation was more low-key than I had envisioned. There were no caps and gowns or alma mater singing, but my entire family was there. My cheering section also included three of the most amazing people I've ever known--three of my best friends since junior high. I had no idea they would be there. It meant the world to me to see them there...to have them participate in the ever-so-important teenage rite of passage.
That's what true love is all about. It's standing by someone even when they don't make decisions that seem right or logical to you. It's holding tightly to relationships, and knowing that the camaraderie we share sustains our souls. It's cheering for the milestones. It's crying together in the depths of sorrow. And it's that kind of love that I know twelve years later will last forever.
The event was a little different for me. Basically, I withdrew myself from high school after the first semester of my junior year of high school. Between my mother's deteriorating mental health and my desperate attempts to hold together the family I had left, I could find no significance to sitting in American Government discussing upcoming football games. High school life seemed so self-absorbed and meaningless...exactly what it should be. On top of all this, I was harassed daily in class and the hallways by someone, and it was just too much to deal with.
I worked full time during the day and finished my few remaining courses at night school. Those few months are still a blur, but in my typical fashion, I pushed myself to get everything done in record time. I held my high school diploma in my hands seven months early.
The adult school had a special "graduation" ceremony for students who earned either their diploma or G.E.D. Although, it was nice to be part of the event, I could help but feel depressed, wondering just what I had traded in my haste. While my friends were still writing term papers and going to club meetings, I was earning a paycheck. I was no longer a part of their club that consisted of study sessions and parties and summer plans. What did I have to show for myself?
On top of all this, this graduation was more low-key than I had envisioned. There were no caps and gowns or alma mater singing, but my entire family was there. My cheering section also included three of the most amazing people I've ever known--three of my best friends since junior high. I had no idea they would be there. It meant the world to me to see them there...to have them participate in the ever-so-important teenage rite of passage.
That's what true love is all about. It's standing by someone even when they don't make decisions that seem right or logical to you. It's holding tightly to relationships, and knowing that the camaraderie we share sustains our souls. It's cheering for the milestones. It's crying together in the depths of sorrow. And it's that kind of love that I know twelve years later will last forever.
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