This is my kid (well, one of four). She is the oldest, and not so much a "kid" anymore. The above picture was taken last year when we were saying goodbye to her childhood and leaving her to her own devices on a college campus a few hours drive from home. I am constantly reminding my wife (and myself) that the brunt of our parenting responsibilities are behind us on this one. She is an adult now and can and will make decisions for herself. Our support is always there and our advice is a phone call away. Now we have to trust that our efforts and God's hand will guide her from here on out. I have no doubt this kid will go far in life. She's the one that makes a decision and just goes for it, always coming out on the other side having impressed everyone that doubted her. I just shake my head and smile.
Right now she is on a trip with a chorale group. They are in NYC and scheduled to sing at Carnegie Hall for Memorial Day. She never had a voice lesson in her life before college. See what I mean?
Yesterday she called us for a "trip update". They had been to Gettysburg, P.A. and the 9/11 museum in NYC. She described the experiences as humbling and told us how she never really understood the weight of these events until now. She told us how it was difficult to hold back the tears as she toured the museum and heard stories about that tragic day. She had just turned three years old when the towers fell in 2001. She has heard references to that day her whole life, not really knowing what it felt like to experience something like that, a shot through the heart of your nation, a blow to your sense of security. I pray her generation doesn't have to, but I expect they will. My grandparents had Pearl Harbor. My parents had JFK's assasination. We had 9/11. We can't protect our children from everything. We just try to educate them and love them, and then hope and pray for their futures.
Seeing my daughter experience life as an adult is as exciting for my wife and myself as it is for her, I'm sure. But more than that, knowing that we have raised her in such a way that she sees the sacrifices and tragedies of others and it affects her deeply, well, that is priceless.
-Kerry
