The minister at my son’s high school baccalaureate earlier this month hit the nail on the head, as often they do. Graduations are a conundrum.

There’s no denying the high emotions that surface when we attend a graduation, he said. Pride, fear, loss, excitement, sadness, regret and more rise to the surface.

As to be expected, every parent sitting in the Hampton High School Stadium was swelling with pride as we watched these accomplished children take one more giant step toward adulthood, No more group projects, cafeteria lunches, lockers keys to lose; no more gym class, no more rules devised just. . . because. They were so ready to move on.

And for us, like parents across the country who were experiencing the same thing, there was also a mixture of uncertainty and a lot of “what do we do now?” riding on the humid night air. Right on cue, that dreaded Empty Nest Syndrome showed its face more than once that night, before we could bat it down to deal with in less emotional moments.

Watching our youngest march along the field that had been the site of so many of his activities was moving, as to be expected. How many times had he played soccer on that field or kicked footballs or run the track? How many times had he sat watching his friends in their activities?

Lately, the graduates have also been drawn back to that field. The other night a group of them were at the field playing Frisbee, dancing, and hanging out which is what they seem to enjoy most.

They realize as do we that their days of being together are coming to an end, that they are moving on to a new place in their lives. They are excited to go and see what they can accomplish, but it’s still hard leaving good friends, a lesson a lot of them might be learning for the first time.

One of the graduation speakers uttered the obvious when he said that this would be the last time this class would be together in one place. They are all going on to new things -- college, technical schools, work or the military. They have done their families and friends and community proud for the past 13 years and I have no doubt they will continue to do so.

Just a short six years ago I wrote a column when our oldest son Dan graduated from high school and left for his freshman year at college. In some ways that was a more emotional time, I think, because he was the oldest and the first to leave. But even still, I thought I had all the time in the world before Steve would graduate. That time has gone by in a flash.

When we drop Steve off at college in August, I have a feeling all those emotions the minister listed will be riding with us in the car as we drive back home.

By Teresa K. Flatley
6.24.05