"The End of An Era"

It's over?

Last Saturday was bittersweet.  I saw my daughter walk across the MSU (Michigan State University) stage as she was awarded her bachelor's degree.  I am so proud of her I could burst! She graduated from James Madison "college" as an honor student.  She put forth a lot of effort, time and energy to achieve her degree.  She will be continuing on with her master's degree at U of M (gasp)!  That is the University of Michigan, arch rival of MSU.  Since she is not a big sports fan she is unperturbed at this seeming defection.

I'm thankful that the most distressing event in her four years of college was the death of her laptop.  When we send our 18 year old children off for four years to co mingle with 20,000 other "kids" in a basically unsupervised setting we do so with lots of prayers (or at least I did).  I prayed everyday that she would be protected from physical harm, evil and temptations.  The hazards are many and the holes deep and black.  The Lord answered my prayers and brought my daughter safely out the other side.  She did the rest by applying herself with intensity, focus, dedication and a few all nighters.

As Hannah posted on her face book page "The End Of An Era,"  signals the beginning of a new era.  I am sad that you, daughter, will no longer be only be 1 1/2 hours away in East Lansing.  I will miss our Mother/Daughter lunches at Thai Princess or whatever restaurant we decided to explore.  I am sad that you won't be popping home for a weekend (though the last two years those weekends became fewer).  I am sad that you won't be 10 minutes away from your Aunt who was always there for you when you needed her.  Just as I am sad to see the end of all these wonderful things I am just as excited for the new experiences the future holds.  We will have an opportunity to create new memories.  I am looking forward to that.  I have great faith in you Hannah that you will navigate the next phase of your life journey with just as much success as you have the last four years.  Kudos to you my dear daughter!

I love this girl!

Father, Daughter and Mother

Daughter, Mother and the other Father!

I can still carry her!

Cousins are so supportive!

The "Dean" Bunch