Seven Years in the Making

In 2003 I started taking a class here and a class there at the local community college.

Seven years later, here I am.

It's funny - I didn't cry during the ceremony but now, looking at the pictures, I'm bawling my eyes out. After all the blood, sweat, and tears I finally finished!

Many, many, many times I've wanted to quit. When I had to miss field trips with the kids classes because I had school, when I did homework in the emergency room waiting for Grandmother to be seen by a doctor, when we had to come up with another quarter's tuition and book money, when the kids had to get their own dinner because Husband was working late and I was studying, when, when, when...

But my family got me thru it. Mom and Stepdan were only a short drive away anytime I needed any help at all.

This diploma is for them too.

Dad and Stepmonster Shelly hopped on a plane more than once to help care for Grandmother when I was buried in schoolwork. They let me rant on the phone and always encouraged me to keep going and not give up.

This diploma is for them too.

Super Scientist Genius Brother inspires me to aim higher and take chances.

Grandmother did Thing 1 and Thing 2's laundry and made sure they did their homework when I wasn't home.

The kids were quiet when I had to study, waited patiently for me when I was late picking them up, brought me Diet Coke when I was writing, and gave me love and support when I really needed it.

But it is Husband who has been my rock. Night after night he would come home from working 10 hours and make dinner because I was still studying. He attended band concerts alone during finals week, cleaned the house and did laundry, wrangled the kids into doing their chores and homework on weekends I spent at the library, and never EVER complained. He listened when I needed to talk, hugged me when I got a bad grade, and encouraged me every single step of the way.

This diploma is for him too.

I tell my younger, more 'traditional' classmates, that going to college is a million times easier when you are young and don't have family, home, and business responsibilities - and it's true. But my experience in college, while more difficult logistically, has shown me in a million different ways how amazingly lucky I am.

The diploma may have my name on it but it belongs to my whole family, they have earned it just as much as I have.