Master

One morning Ryan woke up and decided he'd had enough of this school business and it was high time he graduated.

So we all said, "OK," and our parents drove to Provo to celebrate.

There was, of course, some work to do. We had to get ready for Ryan to start his job, and that included the business of moving 1,200 miles away. That was just a little bit stressful and made just a little bit harder without a car. By the time we arrived at graduation, we were all a little worn out.

Maybe it was the exhaustion, maybe it was the pregnancy, or maybe it was just me being me. But when I saw Ryan march into the Marriott Center with his fellow graduates, I got a little emotional.

I suddenly remembered what it was like when we moved to Provo on nothing but the speculation Ryan would be accepted into the program he wanted. I remembered him applying for the Information Systems major and later being accepted into the master's degree program.

I remembered catching the 6:14 a.m. bus to get to work and put him through school, and I remembered scrimping and saving a little more when Lyla came along and my paychecks stopped.  Ryan worked a couple part-time jobs, spent hours on projects and group work, and managed to convince Lyla that he was a living, breathing Prince Charming. He had worked so hard—no, we had worked so hard—to get to this point.

I noticed all the people he'd worked with on group projects and realized for the first time how much I would miss them and their families. We made great memories in Provo, and I realized then that it will be a time of life we will always treasure. Watching it come to an end with such appropriate pomp and circumstance was both bitter and sweet in the best possible ways.

And then Ryan flashed me this big smile just seconds after receiving his diploma.

Exactly 30 years ago, Ryan's dad graduated from BYU with a degree in computer science. He and Bonnie had one little girl and their second daughter on the way. He graduated on a warm April day when he was 26—exactly Ryan's age. 

If that's any indicator of the path we're on, I'd say we're off to a pretty great start.

 Congratulations on your graduation, Ryan. I couldn't be more proud.