Man...part of the dichotomy of adult kids - is missing them being around, but at the same time being humbled at who they have grown to be.
I can without hesitation say that at 25 and 22 both of my kids are much more mature and better people than I was.
That comes with a caveat, by the time I was my youngest's age I had my oldest. I was married and had bought my first house. But I was an unmitigated train wreck looking for a tree to crash into. Somehow by Grace alone I kept it between the ditches enough to survive. But this aint about me - its about them. My daughter just started her last semester of college and is deep in a very competitive grad school application process. The specific degree she is chasing has 58 programs in the country and there are a total of 250 people accepted every year. Some of the top schools accept 2 or 3 per year. She applied to 12 schools and received interviews at 11 of the 12. She has already advanced to the next round with 11 of the 12 - and the others haven't let anyone know yet. In other words, she hasnt been eliminated from any yet. Despite this she is worried sick she wont have a home next year. I keep telling her 'God has a plan, your course is already set, you just dont know it yet.'
Through it all she is giving a ton of her time and volunteering with the Clemson LIFE program (if you dont know - look it up. Clemson has a program for special needs kids where they teach them life schools while immersed in a young adult college environment) - This week alone she took one student to a Softball game and took another young man to pick out flowers for his GF for Valentine's day. All while slamming a tremendous course load and still having a social life and being Chair of two committees in her sorority.
Earlier this week she made a post on Linkedin (their advisors push this to get their names out there to grad school programs and future employers) - reading it...I was humbled and a touch emotional. I'm in awe of this special young woman. I'm careful to not say 'Prrouf of' as that denotes to me some sense of responsibility or credit, I always say 'Proud For' ...because I know how hard they work.
Anyway, enough rambling. Im going to share her post, because her words encapsulate it better than I could.
I'm excited to share that I earned a 4.0 GPA and a spot on the Clemson University President's List for the Fall 2025 semester. This semester pushed me academically and personally as I balanced senior-level genetics coursework, volunteering at Prisma Health Children's Hospital of the Upstate...
www.linkedin.com
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