These two. Both are recent graduates, baby cousins all grown up—Abby and Adam.
Yesterday, I drove to Auburn, my alma mater, for Abby’s graduation, and I have to say, I came away hopeful. You don’t realize how the years are wearing on your sense of possibility until you see an arena full of young people who believe anything is possible. And it is. We just forget that as we get older.
It’s important to support the young people in our families and communities, to show them that they matter and that we believe they really can make a positive difference in the world. I saw that yesterday as graduates filed onto the stage to accept their diplomas.
In the midst of all those robed twenty-somethings stood a man old enough to be their father, wearing no cap or gown. When he stepped to the head of the line, it was announced that he was accepting a diploma posthumously for his son. The applause was thunderous, but then the graduates who were still seated on the arena floor began to stand, and the rest of us followed their lead in giving this father a standing ovation. The same thing happened when a young woman accepted a diploma for her deceased brother. The students led the rest of us in a show of respect.
Since I went back to Southern Living, I’ve been asked (more than once) what it’s like to be a woman of a certain age working with Millennials. It’s actually pretty inspiring. They’re smart, they’re kind, they work hard, and they believe anything’s possible.
Now that I think about it, that’s what this time of year is all about. Christmas is the season of love and grace and forgiveness and new beginnings. It’s a beautiful reminder that anything’s possible. Let's hold onto that.
[Image by Amanda Elliott . . . and I hope she doesn't mind that I lifted it. You can't trust family.]
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