Graduation Day, Part II

Last year, I blogged my son Reed's graduation from high school. Last Friday, my daughter Jayne graduated from high school, which means my wife and I will be official "empty nesters" in two short months.

Jayne, congratulations! I want you to know that it was one of the great joys of my life to watch you accept the awards for top female scholar-athlete and co-valedictorian of your class. Although I plead guilty to fatherly bragging, lest folks think I am exaggerating, here are your teacher's words in giving you the award as the top English student:

Ebullient, brilliant, and blond…Jayne has been a force of nature in every English class she has taken at Country Day.

In addition to straight A’s for four years, Jayne earned an 800 in the SAT Critical Reading, an 800 on the SAT Writing tests, and a 5 on the English Literature AP.

A voracious and insightful reader, Jayne, by the start of tenth grade, had already read nearly all of the books assigned in honors English—on her own.

After she finished her AP exams last spring, Jayne needed something to keep her busy. So she sat in on other English classes, taking quizzes, contributing to discussion, just having fun — typical high school stuff.

An unabashedly passionate student and a real thinker, Jayne will argue her point in the classroom and then into the halls, even if arrayed against her is the rest of the student body.

Jayne is that very rare thing— a thoughtful reader, an independent thinker and an utterly self-confident person. all that, and only 18 years old.

Jayne, I am grateful for the close relationship we now enjoy after surviving some rocky times in your early teens. Although your mother and I recently gave you a hard time when you celebrated your 18th birthday by getting a tattoo, we were secretly honored that you chose to have our and your brother’s initials –- PCR –- permanently stained into your skin. Your beauty, spunk, creativity, razor-sharp mind, quick wit, and herculean work ethic (only one of which qualities you inherited from me) promise an incredibly bright future. Your mother and I love you beyond measure. Our home and our lives will be emptier without our beloved "force of nature" in our daily midst. But we are excited about your future and will be cheering you on every step of the way.

In honor of our time together before you head out into the world on your own, here is a journey down memory lane of our experiences that I have chronicled on this blog: