Two weeks ago, we sat ourselves in front of a stage surrounded by an academic community.
Let me back up a few years. Make that almost a decade. Back before both of our kids were racing scooters in the driveway. Before I learned to make Southern Fried Chicken. Before we made the move to Georgia. Before we clocked out of jobs that didn't challenge us for the last time.
Let's go there.
It started as a late night conversation, spanning multiple evenings, days and weeks. Mark and I starting asking ourselves questions about our future. Here we were, young and married, uneducated and living paycheck to paycheck. We had a son and daughter on the way to think about. We wanted more for them. The vision began to manifest. A plan was forming.
The first few years I went to nursing school while Mark worked tirelessly. On a second shift so that I could spend the morning in class and clinicals. We were fortunate enough to have family nearby, while still in Kansas, who could help us with the kids when our schedules would take us away in different directions. I don't remember a whole lot about those years. I just remember a dream that we had.
Phase one completed when I finished my degree. Mark quit his job and we did this crazy thing. Moving our family of four halfway across the country to Georgia. We wanted to be near an ocean, near mountains. Knowing not a single soul in the state, we plunged in. If anyone wondered how absolutely insane we were at this point, they had their answer.
"If you could do any one thing in the whole wide world, what would you do? Sky is the limit...no there are no limits. What would you be? What would you grow up and do?" I had asked him these questions over and over again through the years. Before we made our final plans, he had decided that he wanted to be an Environmental Engineer. To impact the world in a positive way and make it a better place. The University Of Georgia had a degree that called to him.
Here he stands today, degree in hand. A graduate. An engineer.
Kids who have grown up with parents going to school. Homework stations throughout the house. Projects and reports that were due. Long nights, longer days.
Sometimes I look back and I can't believe how crazy we were. What were we thinking? Why couldn't we have just worked up some invisible ladder wherever we were working at the time and just coast through until the kids graduated high school. Then do something about it later on in life. Why didn't we focus on maxing out pay raises? Build up a hefty savings account? Why didn't we accept things the way they were? Come to terms that we started a family while we were still kids and deal with it? People do it all the time. We could have done it.
A smile forms across my face, and with it a familiar sigh.
We don't settle.
Dreamwork makes the teamwork.
Baby, we don't take what we're given. We earn it. These years I've learned many lessons. One of which rings truer than true.
Don't let anything or anyone else define you. Today and every tomorrow, you hold the key in your hands.
Mark and I were waiting to meet each other and have these really awesome kids before we were ready to start our journey. We wanted to rally up all the support we needed in our life to make this our very own. I don't regret it for one millisecond. We earned our place in this world. We know the taste of our own sweat. We know the color of our own blood. We don't let each other settle. We make sure that our dreams are realized. Our goals can be achieved.
Having those people beside you, who help to make sure that we live our one wild and precious life...it is everything.
Our kids will know that anything is achievable. I don't care how much they love solving equations or writing academic papers. The lessons that I hope they learn are the ones that will take them far in life.
Dear Caleb and Katelynn,
Mom and Dad can't thank you enough for your patience. We know these past years haven't been easy. When you only had one parent home at a time, we know that was hard. When Mom tucked you in late at night telling you that Dad would hug you when he got home, we know that wasn't fair. When Mom was at work and you only had one parent there for your soccer game, we know that was tough. We wish we could have both been there for all these little moments that you've had over the years. Promise, that will get better.
What we can tell you, is that we love you with a fierce love. One that has carried us through these sacrifices. When we felt like quitting, your sweet faces gave us the encouragement that we needed. When we knew we couldn't place one foot in front of the other, we heard your laugh and your smiles gave us more strength than we could've asked for.
In life you'll find bravery and courage in lovely places.
Thank you for being there for us and our vision to make our lives together more stable. To make our world a better place. To bring our future forward. We will never be able to thank you enough.
We hope that someday, if you feel scared or unsure of what you are capable of, maybe you'll think back to your silly parents. Those two who put you through moves and changes just so they could go back to school while you were growing up. Think past the long days and see the net that holds you. The people who love you and will make sure to ask you questions to help you find your purpose in life. The hard work and determination that is made possible just because you know at the end of the day, you have your family in your corner. Believing in you. Knowing that you have it in you to be whatever it is you want to be. Even if that means you don't need a college education. Because dreams come in all shapes and sizes. We just want you to know, that whatever it is in this world you want in your hands...it's never too big. There's always a way to get it. It won't be handed to you. It won't land on your doorstep. You can't get it just by wishing. You'll have to work hard. You'll have to find strength and make the decision over and over again that you want it. But when you finally get it, guess what? No one can ever take it away from you. You have built your dream from the ground up. And it will always be yours.
We love you. Always.
Thank you to everyone who has helped us along the way. The support, the encouragement. All the love. We felt it. Thank you to everyone that was here, in body and spirit, to help us celebrate this day. And Mark, I couldn't be more proud of you. Congratulation baby. We did it!
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