A Life of Graduations
“Entrust your works to the Lord, and your plans will succeed” (Proverbs 16:3).
“Pomp and Circumstance” Plays Again
Even if you don’t have kids in school, you probably are aware that the past several weeks have been filled with graduations and culmination festivities. Whether it’s a Class of 2023 display at the grocery store, seeing groups of teens everywhere when you’re running errands during what are normally school hours, or watching a line of sweet five-years olds walk like little ducklings during a summer camp outing to the park, the signs are here: The end of the school year has come, and a new season of life has begun.
A Time of Reflection
Such observations often bring up memories about the various times that we, too, “graduated.” Whether at 18, 22, or some older age, there are many moments we notice in real time that mark the end of one life stage and begin another, including:
The last time I left a school as a student.
The last time I closed the door of my apartment before moving out of my college town.
The last time I rode the elevator at my first job.
The last time I saw a grandparent.
The last email I sent from a job.
The last time I attended Mass at this church before I moved.
The last day I was not married.
The last time at the office before having a baby.
The last time I nursed my baby.
The last time I held a beloved pet.
The last time I closed the door of a home.
The last time I walked out of my child’s elementary school.
The last lunch together before my friend moved to another state.
The last time I sat at a child’s sports/music/dance event.
The last regular paycheck deposit before I became self-employed.
The last pound I shed before reaching my target weight.
The last day before my child was married.
The last time I held my parent’s hand.
The last time I was in the home I grew up in.
The last mortgage payment.
Words to Remember and to Share
Some of those times are filled with joy and promise, while some are filled with heaviness and uncertainty. The gift of faith can offer us stability: “I keep the Lord always before me; with him at my right hand, I shall never be shaken” (Psalm 16:8).
Whether we are the one graduating or whether we are accompanying another, we have time-tested words of guidance to reflect upon and share: “In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:6).
Finally, remembering our loving God’s declaration—“See, I am doing something new!” (Isaiah 43:19)—may bring us reassurance as we journey through each graduation and take in those “last” moments.
Linda A. Burrows is an attorney specializing in trusts and estates in southern California. She is the founder of Soul Soda, a non-profit with the mission of refreshing faith in those, particularly Catholics, who are feeling disconnected from their religious roots. She is a wife and mother of three teens. Linda’s Confirmation name was that of St. Gabriel the Archangel.