Thirteen Days Away: Sunday two weeks from today at 10 a.m. our daughter, dressed in cap and gown, will enter the tented arena for the Riverview/Grow graduation ceremonies. I have a lump in my throat and fear in my belly.

Memorial Day Perspective: Tomorrow is Memorial Day and the media is a buzz with all things military. Yesterday I watched our town parade move through a rural suburban paradise equipped with veterans astride tanks, and even a helicopter. Our local volunteer firemen and women drove by on their super shiny trucks. Needless to say, what we as a family and our daughter are facing is offset by what military families face each day, the comings and goings of their loved ones from battle. What firefighters face whenever the town sirens or beepers go off. So I figure, hey, this is no biggie, really. The challenge of  keeping our daughter safe, because that is the key issue, safe and happy, pales in contrast to those challenges facing moms and dads, wives and siblings of servicemen and women, of firefighters and all rescue teams every day.

Sentimental Sap: Not really. This is actually what I thought about waking up this morning, as the pang hit that our daughter would be leaving a very safe world, for one that is much less protected, and frankly, still unknown. I know that I am grieving her school almost as much as she will. After all, it was a safe haven for me as well.

The Human Condition: But I think that is what we call “the human condition”; mortal, vulnerable and we do the best we can. Foresight is great, hindsight a terrific teacher, and everything else in the middle is where we spend most of our time, holding on to the seat of our pants for the ride.

Have a great holiday.

©Jill Edelman, M.S.W., L.C.S.W. 2011