I remember blogging on this very site when I was turning 25 and I was about to have my first child. I remember the goals I had for myself then. Write a book, record a record, have a first child, and continue my graduate school education.
I got exactly one of them completed by the time that my oldest will graduate from high school. And that was him being born. I succeeded in making it through his whole K-12 education, even though I didn’t make it through my own higher learning. I succeeded in imparting to him a love of music, even if I wasn’t able to continue making new music past his birth. I was able to write notes and messages and posts and pages, but never a book. Still, his story is far more compelling than any novel or memoir might have been.
Someone told me recently that your child graduating high school was a success for the whole family. That it took a lot more work than just the individual effort by the child themselves or by the parents either. And while I have always scoffed at the “It takes a village” of it all, it is nonetheless true. It is nonetheless a fully realized nugget of wisdom.
And this village of suburbs and of punks in the city. This village of music and movies and books and random people on the internet. This village of many days spent in his room making meaning all his own.
It is an accomplishment. Graduating from high school. It is a success of an incredible kind. Especially now. Especially in 2025.
When he was born, I really thought that having a kid graduate in 2025 would mean something. That number was somehow special in my mind. And as it turns out, it was special, but not for the cosmic reasons that I had originally given to it. It is special because he is special. It is special because of just how much we have gone through together in order to get to this point.
All experience is just a period of transition from one state to another. This transition to adulthood, to life after high school has been hard fought and hard won. I am so proud of him for making it. I am proud of myself for being here when he does. I am proud of this village for helping him to survive and to make the next transition one that he is capable of making.
I love him dearly, and I wish him the best Last Week of his life (so far).
I may not have written a book, recorded an album, or gotten a masters. But, I do have a son. And he is graduating high school. I want for nothing.
