Today #1 Son graduates from high school. Graduates. From high school. A year early. With a diploma and the whole cap-and-gown thing. Tonight we do the obligatory family-and-close-friend dinner gig. Personally, I can’t wait to see Grandma and Grandpa rub elbows with the boys from the band.

And I am so proud of #1 Son. So proud.

Tomorrow he’s moving out and into a house with a bunch of friends for the summer. The house isn’t too far from my office, so chances are good he’ll try to con a free lunch out of me now and then. He’ll move back in with me when school starts. He’ll be attending PCC in the fall while he weighs his future options.

Did I tell you how proud I am of him? Of the kind, caring, passionate, responsible, witty, fun human being he has grown up to be? He is no longer a child, but a young man with dreams, hopes and ambitions that will take him as far as he can see.

Our lives will never be the same again. My role as mother is changing from disciplinarian and rule enforcer to mentor and friend. Not that it’s a bad thing… just different.

In some ways my work is done. In others, it is just beginning.

Did I tell you how proud I am?