The Culmination of 24 Years of Love and Dedication

Yesterday we had the privilege of attending our son's commencement ceremony at the University of Texas at Arlington.

It was a very big week for us! Last Saturday I wrote about some of our homeschooling experiences which led up to Chelsea's graduation from SMU and today I'd like to recount some of the things that led up to yesterday: Justin's graduation from the College of Engineering.

I can't help but think homeschooling parents glean much more satisfaction and joy out of collegiate commencement exercises of their children than parents who are less involved in the education of their kids. How could it be otherwise? After all, the homeschool parent is involved day in and day out with every aspect of their child's development and the goal is to make sure they get the best possible education. It's very hands on. I'm not denigrating parents who don't homeschool; I'm just saying, from our point of view, we take incredible pride and joy in the success of our kids, which has been a direct result of our opportunity to educate them at home.

Early on Justin was obsessed with the way things work. He loved those great picture books by David Macaulay, which thoroughly and fascinatingly showed how things were put together and what made them work. His curiosity was insatiable. Everyone he encountered was pummelled with questions, starting, of course, with his mom who, exhaustedly, would refer Justin to me when I got home at the end of the day. It was always, "why this?" or "why that?" and "how does this work?" and "how do you do this?" Fortunately for Justin, two of our neighbors were mechanically inclined, so they were able to answer questions well beyond my realm of experience. Justin's curiosity continues to this day and people will routinely say, "that boy sure does ask a lotta questions."

At about age 8, he started mowing some lawns in the neighborhood and, within a couple of years, had several regular customers at $25.00 per yard. He edged, mowed and bagged the grass and did a very professional job. He purchased two used Snappers and used his earnings to keep his equipment going, all the while learning to mess with engines and all things mechanical.

His ultimate goal, as a nine- or ten-year-old, was to motorize his bike. Incorporating his yard mowing business with an ulterior motive, he rationally talked me into sharing the expense of a new gas-powered blower. Yes, he needed one for his business and I wanted one too, so we went to Home Depot and he picked out the one he wanted. On the box it said it created a "140 per hour gust of wind" and I could see in his eyes the visions that were going through his head. He knew exactly what he was going to do with that blower when he got it home, but, of course, as far as I was concerned, this blower was strictly for "business." Sure enough, when we got home, he assembled the blower, gassed it up, and made a bee-line for his bike. He started the blower,
jumped on his bike, aimed the blower backward under his arm, and waited for take off. He started peddling to help get going, but to no avail. Sadly for Justin, the blower wasn't quite powerful enough to jettison him around the neighborhood. He'd have to come up with another means to power his bike.

He was 11 when he started to motorize his bicycle. It was a year long project, but with the advice and consultations of our two mechanically-inclined neighbors, he was able to do it with a lawn edging motor. He made friends with the manager of Two Wheel World in Garland and got most of his parts there. He designed it and completed it--and it was amazing! It would go about 27 miles per hour and Justin rode it all around the neighborhood.

We retired it after Chelsea took a terrible spill while riding it several blocks away. Fortunately some neighbors saw the accident occur and called the ambulance and she was rushed to the hospital. It was very scary, but she recovered with only one small scar. We still have the bike in storage and it still runs; maybe someday Justin can impress his kids with it.

Justin has always known he wanted to do something mechanical. He loved to tinker on motorcycles and there was always one or two in our garage at any given time. (Come to think of it, there's still one out there!)

Justin did well in math and science classes throughout school and was active in basketball and baseball community and homeschool leagues. We coerced him to take piano lessons, but after several years of that he took to the electric guitar. There were the country & western years, the heavy metal years, then Rap, the blues, bluegrass and jazz. Today his musical tastes are rather eclectic.

Years ago we told our kids we expected them to get at least a bachelor's degree and hopefully go on to graduate work, but that we weren't going to pay their way through college. They would have to maintain excellent grades and get scholarships and grants on their own and/or work their way through.

Justin and Chelsea both scored well on their SAT's and were able to secure some very good academic and leadership scholarships.

At 12:30, yesterday, Justin received his Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, in Mechanical Engineering. He was recently recruited, and subsequently hired, by Raytheon and will be working at one of their Dallas facilities beginning next month.

This was quite a week for Teeka and me. It was a bit surrealistic in that it's emotionally difficult to see both our kids be completely done with the phase of their lives that so intimately involved us in their education and up-bringing. It was a gradual termination because they've been away at college, but the commencement ceremonies have an air of finality to them. It's the beginning
of the rest of their lives, but it's an end to the life they had under our wing.

Now they are on their own~that bittersweet time when parents hope and pray that the kiddos remember the important things in life, like God and proper behavior.

We're so thankful for Justin and Chelsea and for all of the hard work they've done throughout their years at home and at college. We love you both more than you can ever know.

(photo of Justin after having "walked" to receive his diploma at Texas Hall on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington)