The Graduate

She hastens down the aisle to Vivaldi. Joins in the chorus of voices singing In My Life and Lean on Me, her eyes and head swiveling with impatience.

Her name is called. She stands and I resist yelling her name to show her how proud I am in front of the hundreds of others there because it will only embarrass her at the moment and me in the reassessment.

She’s not the star pupil, not by grace of her report card or test scores or attitude or ambition, but she’s as bright and luminescent as they come to me even when she greets my “Morning, Sunshine!” with a grunt or answers an inquiry about how something went with her default adjective: “good.”

She is the third to last student to leave the elementary school stage, the ironic end for one always in a hurry to finish every assignment every given to her.She refuses to pause and pose whenever I get near. In nearly every photo, she’s a blur.

Much like these six years gone by.

Congratulations, Thing 1. Please, take your time.

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As of this morning, our family needs less than $650 to meet our fundraising goal of $20,000 to help The Cure JM Foundation in its mission to find better treatments and a cure for juvenile myositis, the potentially devastating autoimmune disease Thing 1 continues to battle. Please be consider giving a small charitable, tax-free donation to help our daughter’s cause.

Visit our FirstGiving fundraising page to donate online by credit card or to find instructions on how to donate by mail-in check.

Thank you, all.