Classic /rant #1,164 (March 14, 2014): The Countdown Begins

We received a letter in the mail from my son's high school yesterday that really signaled the fact that the countdown to his graduation has started.

It had to do with caps and gowns, and that he had to pay for them later this month.

We had to measure his head size and we had to weigh him because he needs to be fitted properly.

Graduation time is approaching, and for my son, this is really it for him.

He has a learning disability, so he won't be going to college, at least not right now.

He has done as well as he could with his high school courses. He has managed to pass them all, probably a lot of the time through the good graces of his teachers, who quantify his passing not necessarily by test scores, but by preparedness and effort.

He has taken numerous courses to help get him ready for life after high school, and he seems ready to go out into the world and begin to start his career.

He has a great resume, having worked as a volunteer counselor at a summer program run by the school district for two years, and he actually made some money last year working for a summer camp.

He is a good kid, but like most of us at that age, he is bright eyed and bushy tailed, and not that knowledgeable about the outside world.

But my wife and I are very proud of him for that level that he is about the reach, against all odds.

I was equally proud of my daughter when she graduated high school, and later college, and now, as a member of the workforce.

She had some obstacles of her own to jump over, but she did what she had to do and did it well.

But this appears to be it educationally for my son, who will further his education on the job, whatever that job is.

So when we received the material in the mail for his cap and gown, it gave us time to pause and think about his 18 years, and the strides he has made to leap over his disability and make something of himself.

That road is still full of lots of hurdles, but he has done pretty well this far, and I have no reason to think he can't continue to defy the odds.

We will really know that "this is it" when his yearbook comes. Funny, that didn't have the weight that the cap and gown thing did, because we paid for the yearbook months ago.

But when he finally gets that, well, that will really be it.

And then, graduation, and finally, he will be out in the wide blue yonder.

I just hope the road ahead is a good and fair one for him, and that he makes his way as seamlessly as he can.