Today is the day. We become DINKs. Dual income no kids for those of you who don’t know the term. Our youngest graduates from high school in about 4 hours, and we couldn’t be more proud of her. Life is, finally, good all around.  I say this not only because we are an empty nest but also because it means we have done our jobs. We have raised four kids, with very little help from their other parents. We have done what we needed to do to see them all get their diplomas and move on to the next stages in their lives.

Today as I sit on my outside deck, I relish the sun on my face, the sounds of the plane in the air high above me, the bees buzzing around my plants, the goose honking on the pond at the neighbor’s house, the sounds of weed whacked next door, the birds chirping. I see the mommy hawk flying from tree to tree, her babies almost ready, like mine, to leave the nest. With my trusty Moxie at my side, I feel more at peace on this day, the day before my 45th year begins, than I believe I have in my whole life. Peace. Finally. It’s been a long time coming here to meet you. (Kudos to Joe Versus the Volcano)

This week, at my old job, several friends were let go. No, I know lot the circumstances behind their release, but I do know that the place will be a little less without them being there. So glad I’m not experiencing any of that, so glad to be where I am instead, although if it was me, I think id have a few quite chipper things to say on the way out the door. Call these what you will, people still lost their jobs and had to go home and explain that to their families. Hard times and hard choices to make, they have, at the hands of those who seemingly have no concept of how that feels. Being raised how I was, struggling for years to make it and have enough money to buy groceries taught me better. If you don’t know how that feels then you can’t possibly ever understand it. Sad that is to me. 

Today,  as I relax and lol forward to the graduation ceremony, I am thankful for my friends. Those who are still there, those who had the guts to leave, and those who were forced out. Either way, I feel somewhat like we built a beautiful product. We served. We made things better. We did our jobs. We persevered. We survived. Even if our jobs and our work is being looked on disfavorably, we shall remain proud and steadfast that we built those things on the principles of being good, worthy, and intelligent, for those who needed us. I will not listen to detractors who were not present at the time for they not know what the situation was like or the struggles we faced. 

Today I relax and enjoy this new life I created. Yes I have used my contacts over the years, but I didn’t rest on the wealth of those before me to make my way, for there was none upon which to rest. I made my own way. For that, I will ever be proud.