Applause! Applause!

When my friends ask me how I'm able to raise four kids all by myself, I tell them, quite honestly, that I do not know. Being a single parent is difficult but I find that thinking about how difficult it is only adds to the aggravation. So I just don't think. I just take it one day at a time with each day presenting a new challenge, a new surprise.

Last weekend was particularly exciting for our family. Two of my sons graduated; my son K from grade school and my son F from high school. I've jotted the dates down many weeks ago but the significance of the occasion just occurred to me: two of my sons are graduating, two children growing up to be the fine adults that they will eventually become, two individuals reaching out for their dreams. And right then and there, I got all teary-eyed.

I've always been the kind of mom who would scream the loudest or clap the hardest when her kids have done something, anything during school programs. In recent years though, I've had to dial it down a little because my kids are actually taller than me and the last thing they need, the boys most especially, is to look like they're a bunch of mama's boys.

And so during the two graduations, I was proud but well-behaved. When K said the opening prayer with calm confidence, I actually wanted to clap my hands right after we said "Amen." When F was given an award for his achievement in campus journalism, I let out a big, fat smile. I remembered the essay he wrote just a few weeks ago when I discovered that he had an ear for writing.

My heart is all fat with love and pride now. And all those days of working to earn a living, of reminding them to please wash the dishes, of worrying that they might be watching too much television or spending too much with their games just don't seem to matter.

I love you, guys!! :)




I took this photograph of F right on the stage; I couldn't wait.




I was asking K to please give me a big smile but this is all I got. Teenagers! Mwahahahaha