On the Eve, Eve, Eve of Graduation

May 13, 2014

This might not make any sense, it's just me spilling my brain out about Jeremy, graduation, and life.

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I talked about Jeremy graduating a few weeks ago, as an end to the Graduate Wife Journey, but the past day or so it's really hit me that we've come to the end of the tunnel.

It was quite a tunnel. One that seemed so long, that as we stood in the kitchen at our house on Duval opening the letter that said Jeremy had finally been accepted to NSU for the Specialist program, now seems like it was even longer. That time in Monroe feels like it was ages away, when in reality it was only three years.

But a lot happens in three years.

We felt like kids then, granted I felt like an adult, but looking back that feeling was definitely that of a kid. We've aged, but that comes with the territory. We no longer live that carefree young 20's life on our motorcycle, keeping up with what concerts were coming close to us. These days I would look at Jeremy like he's lost his mind if he suggested I leave work to go to a concert in Little Rock (which was much closer then) to get home crazy late and go to work the next day.

That fact alone shows we aren't the same people.

Not being the same isn't always bad though. Jeremy seems to get better with age, I hope he would say the same about me. While he is always very rational and calm, his views on life have broadened and I've seen his knowledge of the bible and faith in God rapidly expand.

I attribute that to having the friends he had in Thibodaux, those guys were way over my head. They still are, but that's what I admired about my girlfriends and their husbands. They're great people, with a great sense of humor, and a ridiculous knowledge that I wish I could take an ounce of.

In a few days I get to see him graduate for a second time. He might feel like it's long overdue, but he couldn't help being forced to start college late. I personally admire the heck out of him and what he overcame. I highly doubt I would have had the same outcome.

Had he taken my path to college, the slightly easier one, he wouldn't have half the stories he has. He wouldn't have traveled with some missionary, which is a whole host of funny stories. None of which make any sense when I try to put them on a timeline in my head. No sense at all.

Something about him just draws adventure. I seem to draw crazy stories filled with drama and ridiculousness. Not Jeremy, his stories, which I can rarely get him to speak of to other people because he is much more humble than I am are about walking from village to village in Africa. Baptizing a 99 year old witch doctor who had held onto a bible to years because she felt like someone was coming to explain it to her, and that person was my husband.

He named two men in a field in Africa, because they accepted Christ and wanted new names. In their previous religion you were named according to something, and their mother felt that they were a curse and the English translation of their names was Trouble and Trouble Too. He even named some woman's baby, who he said was covered in flies.

The things he's seen and done are sometimes past what I can imagine in my life.

Which might be why I get so giddy and emotional thinking about watching him walk across the stage this weekend and actually get hooded.

Where I graduated from at least, you are only hooded for a Specialist or Doctorate. When Jeremy told me he had to make sure he turned his hood into Dr. B I nearly fell out with excitement. I wanted so badly to be hooded, but we had to come in wearing ours. Now, I'm mentally freaking out that my camera lens won't be good enough to get a nice shot.

We rushed through my first graduation, but managed to get a picture together for my Master's and Jeremy's Bachelors. I'm telling y'all, and I'm not kidding, I want a great picture of us after his graduation with that hood on so I can frame it.

There will be a copy in my classroom, and a copy in the house. I might even put a copy on the mailbox and make personalized stamps with that picture on it.

So be prepared to have a social media overload from me Saturday.

I'm just short of decorating the house for graduation just to show my excitement, lucky for Jeremy I don't have time to get to Target before then.