So for me, today is a milestone, the second of my children to graduate high school, a chapter that started on 11.4.1997 and reads like a great novel. My daughter, like many of your own children, is graduating high school today. All of the years through elementary, middle and high school have accumulated and compulated to this one special day. It is hard to fathom your little babies all grown into young adults, ready to take on the next journey in their own lives. We, as parents, always believe that they will be little and helpless, and dependent on us forever. Today changed my mind.

As I watched her get ready for her graduation ceremony, i began to ponder through all of the days leading up to this moment. The laughter, the tears, the homework, the friendships, the love/hate relationship with siblings, the way she thinks, her positivity, her beauty inside and out, her ability to find laughter in any moment, all of these emotions and thoughts built into this amazing little person. She has been a blessing to us in every aspect of our lives. The scary part: watching her take that walk across the stage to shake hands with people who have helped to shape and mold the person she has and will become. And who is she? She...is a free soul. She can do anything she wants, be anyone she wants, and teach others to love as she loves. She is that little bird that Momma protected and swooned over her whole life, that always had her own way, whom realized early on, that she was fierce, kind and happy. She is the biggest blessing of life. So, go little bird, spread your wings....fly high.