All graduations make me cry and yesterday's was no exception. One of the teenage girls we hosted for the summer scholarship program completed her final year, and there was a ceremony with a keynote speech, comments from each graduate, and the usual mix of laughs and tears.
I was SO proud of "I," who has stayed with us for the last three years. When she first arrived at our home after her freshman year in high school, she was almost painfully shy, and when she did speak, it was so quietly that it was difficult to understand her. My heart was pounding in the moments before she stepped up to the microphone yesterday - I was really anxious for her. Then I watched this confident young woman get up at the podium and speak clearly and articulately about what she had learned and what the program had meant to her. I was so moved.
I know that even though she has graduated from the program, this isn't "goodbye" for us. (After all, this is a girl who gave me a Mother's Day card this year!) This fall, "I" will apply to colleges and I can't wait to follow her progress, and see how her life unfolds. I'm told that other host parents have sometimes attended college graduations and even weddings of their former students. Oh no, I'm getting tearful again - why must they grow up so fast?!
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