Before I begin with the blog post, yes I know that Ain’t ain’t a word, so please anyone who is a grammar police, I did it on purpose.
My son went to prom over the weekend and had a senior skip day the day before prom and will be graduating in a few short weeks from high school. He will be attending University of North Carolina Charlotte to major in PoliSci or Political Science. He would really like to become a lawyer and go into politics. Now our son has been a declared Republican for several years and was devastated when John McCain and Sarah Palin did not win the election. He wears his McCain t-shirt with pride and argues the republican side of all issues very well.
Oh, he is into facebook, Ipods, touch phones with internet access and loves to hang out with his friends. Even though we did not force him to get a job, he at one time had three jobs and was busy with sports, homework, friends, work and every once in a while was able to sleep.
I look back at what my last year of high school was like and it was vastly different than what his last year is like. Now, I graduated in 1987 and simply stating it was in the 80′s is enough to say that it was different than his would be in 2010. But it was more than that.
My senior year of high school I left home in May before my graduation. It was not really a choice but a necessity. I had suffered from sexual abuse from my father since I was three years old. I suffered through it because I did not believe I was strong enough to stop the abuse or deal with the aftermath of the situation once I did something to stop it. I finally found an inner strength when my parents talked about having a foster child, preferably a little girl come stay with them. I couldn’t stop the abuse for myself, but I could for an unidentified little girl who shouldn’t suffer from what I did.
I was without my family at graduation, I was pressing charges and going through the legal system my last month of high school. I applied to colleges and obtain financial resources on my own. I had to arrange my transportation (luckily for getting down there my mom did take me but we had very little to say to each other and it was very stressful). After my first year of college, I had to mail all my belonging back to Wisconsin from Alabama and take a bus ride back home that was literally 24 hours straight. I was awake the whole time as I was afraid I would be robbed or worse by the strangers on the bus.
I was all alone in college and if it wasn’t for the kindness of strangers from the time that I left home in May of 87 and during my college experience I wouldn’t have been able to survive.
I have been worried that my son was not learning how to stand on his own in regards to getting his financial packages in order and all of that good stuff. But I am certain that the remaining three years he will have to be more involved. There is nothing bad about protecting your first born a little bit longer than necessary before sending him out on his own for the first time. I certainly would have loved to been protected more by family, but I cannot say thanks enough to all those who took me in and cared for me in a way that touched my heart in deep hidden places.
Senior year for my son ain’t like it used too be for me and for that I am eternally grateful to God.
taking care of the written word
dannielyn
http://takingcareofthewrittenword.com
http://dannettfreywrites.wordpress.com
http://ladyofproverbs31.blogspot.com
http://hendersonvillenorthcarolina.blogspot.com
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