Sophie

Today,my oldest daughter Sophie graduates from high school.  This morning, as I write this at sunrise, I am extremely proud of her and happy for her, and yet also a little sad.

Eighteen years ago, on Mother's Day, Martha whispered to me during a church service that she was expecting our first child.  When Sophie was born, she was the first grandchild on both sides of the family.  For years, she has been the joy of my life, daddy's little girl, and now she has grown up into a beautiful woman.  In the fall, she will leave home and go to college.

I think about my childhood, and how happy I was.  But there was a day when that life came to an end, and I started a new life.  I love my new life, but I sometimes look back at those days and wistfully yearn for them, wish that they never had ended.

Now, I am reaching the end of that period where I raised my own family.  My daughter is grown up.  She is intelligent, beautiful, ambitious, and not afraid to think for herself.  After today, nothing will be the same.  I pray for her success and happiness.

I am struck by the temporary nature of life.  I place my hope in my faith - that beyond this life, there is a place where we will all be together, forever, and it will never end...