Our son, Chris, has just finished the last of his finals and the finish line of university obeisance is in sight. He was able to word process the essay test and apparently (who's surprised?) wrote his answers out to Calculus, hurt digit and all. When asked whether he had any pain meds, he looked like I had asked him something ridiculous. Mr. Toughguy...
But then, this has been his life...adult life...cause the "up to" years were nothing but "wonder years". We were blessed with a child whose insatiable curiosity brought him information the old fashion way - reading! Having been taught to read in Kindergarten (maybe before), he would read anything and everything. His grandfather and grandmother sent us the Reader's Digest for Christmas every year and Chris would read all the stories he was interested in. And this at the ripe ole age of 6...we remember him remarking to a friend of his, the definition of some word that should have been beyond their comprehension, and the friend asks him how he knew what it meant. "Do you read the dictionary or something?" was the question that followed. Figuring that everybody read it as he did, Chris answered, "Yeah, don't you?"
In school, his favorite method of a copious lack of attention, was to open his textbook for the class, and open his current reading material inside it, appearing, of course, to be paying attention to the teacher. Do not expect the expected here...my brainchild was able to answer any question put to him about the day's lesson as though he had been giving it his full attention. I'm sure that there is a psychological learning process going on here, where, even when part of the brain is engaged in pleasure reading, it is processing factual information being heard as well, but to his mom, he's a stinkin' genius!
Late teenager years brought the opportunity to begin to follow a life's passion - the military. Through the unimaginable gift of friends, Chris attended and graduated with honors from Hargrave Military Academy, as the second in command cadet officer to the whole of the cadet population. Next came Parris Island and the dubious suggestion from his parents to sign up for reservist training because "they never send the reserves into a war first." Yes, we ate those words five years later when, just months away from exiting his six year hitch, he was one of the "few, the proud, the Marines" that were sent into Iraq to begin the war. He extended his time by about a year and retired active duty to finally begin college which had seen quite a delay.
Today, it's over. He has worked full time and done school full time for these last years and only God knows how many times he wanted to quit, but Marines don't quit. I only know One way he has been able to accomplish this... "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen..."
The degree is in Forestry, which leds to the beauty beside him in the pictures. Jessica and Chris met finding out many things they had in common, one of which is the picturesque state of Alaska. Jess has family there and has taught there in the past. Chris has ALWAYS wanted to go there. And go there, they are. She leaves (way too) soon to take another teaching position there ahead of him, and he leaves before the first of the year to begin state trooper school there. In Alaska, they have two types of troopers, we're told. The traffic ones and the forestry "search and rescue" ones. He hopes to join the later.
It is never easy to let them 'out of the nest,' no matter how old they are and how long they have literally been out of it. But our hearts are so very comforted that God has provided for him a future doing what he loves with a very special young lady beside him. "But, God? ALASKA???"
Just kidding, guys...go with God and our blessing!
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