Today is the day! Although he is graduating Thursday, today is his last day of school!

Oh I’m going to have an emotional week, but today is just such an emotionally charged day filled with so many conflicting feelings, I’m wondering if maybe I shouldn’t have asked for today off instead of Thursday.

Today is the last day I get the honor of driving my son to school. Eight weeks ago he had lost the privilege of living in my home, but still, Monday through Friday, I was able to see him.

I will miss him more than he knows.

Today is the day I wasn’t sure would come. Not the date, of course, but his last day as a graduating Senior. For the past year I tried to prepare myself for the possibility of him not graduating this spring. I had finally decided in ten years, nobody will care what month or even year he would graduate, only that he did. But two months ago the idea of him not graduating at all became a real possibility in my mind. I had to be ok with that too.

Today I picked him up at 6:45, like I have been. I was a little concerned he was going to tell me he wasn’t going at all today, but he did.

I wanted to decorate the car with balloons and write, YOU DID IT!, on all the windows, but I knew it would upset him, so I didn’t.

But I got a hug.

He sat in the car and grunted and groaned about how he didn’t want to talk to me about why his hand was bandaged up.

He snapped at his sister, who also understood the significance of the day and wanted to come.

He feebly explained he wasn’t a morning person as justification for being a jerk.

In honor of it being his last day, I took him and his friend to McDonald’s and bought them a nutritious and brain fueling breakfast. Ok…it was food…maybe.

After a few more disgruntled quips, and disagreement about a graduation gift, I drove quietly the rest of the way to his school.

He felt bad, I knew it. He reached over to give me his first and last hug before he exited the car.

“Love you”, I heard sounding more like a question he was asking me.

“I love you, too.”

Regardless how you behave, I love you. I always will love you.

This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. – Psalm 118:24