...I graduated from Baylor University. You'll probably have to click on the picture to see it closely, and even then it seems to have gotten a bit damaged. But if you look closely at my eyes, you'll see that I'd been bawling like a baby. And that cry session paled in comparison to the one I had on the day I actually moved out of our apartment and left Waco for good.
Why all the tears on what should've been a happy occasion? Well, because it was closing the door on what at that point had been some of the happiest years of my life. Even then, although I very much looked forward to the joy that I hoped would come with marriage and children, I recognized that those four years were so incredibly sweet, and so very unique. I'd met my future husband and fallen in love during that time, and I met some precious girls who I'm convinced will remain my lifelong friends. The "Baylor Bubble" that we lived in had to pop that day.
My time there was a true gift from God. Without my full scholarship, I would have never been able to attend Baylor, and I know it was an answer to my parents' prayers as much as it was to mine.
On May 13, 2000, when I walked across the stage and prepared to say good-bye to my dear roommates and friends, I also knew that my childhood was ending. Admitedly, I suppose it should've ended earlier than age 21, but I still felt very much like a child until I left school and got married. I knew I was still under my parents' care, although away from home, and my responsibilites (though they sometimes felt burdensome at the time) were very light.
So every May 13th since then, I've looked back with such bittersweet sentiment upon the day that symbolized everything changing in my life. It ranks right up there with the day I graduated from high school, the day I got married, and the day I became a mother. And to my dear Baylor friends who I know will read this, I'm thinking of all of you today, and thanking the Lord for our time together that He blessed us with. I will always treasure it in my heart.
(The picture is me with my roomies Katie, Giselle, and Jen. I also want to cyber-wave to Sarah, Shelley, and Amy, who graduated the same year, and to Cathryn, my younger Baylor bud.)
4 comments:
Oh Steph, you beat me to it! I've definitely been thinking about today and what it means, as well. That was such a special day! I will forever hold those memories close to my heart. . .Thank God for our four years together, and for a friendship that only gets sweeter with time! :)
If it makes you feel better, I cried the entire spring semester of my senior year. I was so terrified to be jobless, homeless, on-my-ownness and tears were the only way I could process it all.
Cyberwave back Steph! I tear up just thinking about those days! I can hardly believe that we've been out of school for eight years as it feels like just yesterday.
So does this mean that we're officially old and "uncool" now?
sic'em bears! baylor gave me some fabulour memories too! maybe elizabeth and jenna will go their together one day!! :) (if jeb doesn't make her be an aggie!)
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