Reflections after Berkeley Commencement Weekend

two wonderful young adults

Husband, Daughter, & I flew to California on Thursday for a long weekend celebration of Son's Berkeley Engineering Commencement.  We spent Thursday evening in Berkeley, Friday afternoon in San Francisco, Saturday afternoon doing a driving tour of the South Bay area, Sunday back in Berkeley for Engineering commencement ceremony, and then flew home Monday morning.

a rare mother son photo opportunity

I opted to leave the orthopedic shoe/boot at home, because I couldn't imagine doing as much walking as I knew was planned with it on.  That may or may not have been a wise decision.  I can say with certainty that we walked way more than my foot was happy with on Friday while we were in San Francisco.  But it was worth it to see the area of town where he hopes to live.  I was happy that we opted for a driving tour the next day though, my foot needed a rest.

he sees us! center with blue shirt

after the ceremony

Having a child graduate from college is a surreal experience. It's also clear how much has changed over these past four years.  He's grown more and more independent during each year of college. Four years ago he left home as an ambitious 18 year old to go to school out of state without really knowing what was in store for him.  Now he's a confident young adult with an impressive college degree, some internship experience under his belt, and a job on the horizon.  I'm mostly incredibly proud, but somehow, this also makes me sad.  As a parent, it seems that in the blink of an eye everything changes.

attempt at family photo

He'll be coming home for a few weeks before leaving again to go live his life as an independent man.  He has some travel planned this summer, including a trip to Europe. Then he's off to join the ranks of corporate America with a full time job in silicon valley.

one more shot of the recent grad

It's worth mentioning that Daughter isn't far behind him.  She's been taking classes during summer semester and is on target to graduate at the end of next summer, just over 3 years in.  She hopes to continue on for a masters degree after that.

I'm extremely proud of her as well, and am having a hard time getting my head around the idea that by the end of next summer, it is likely that they will BOTH be college graduates.  How did this happen?  Where does the time go?

So I guess Husband & I will continue the mental transition to empty nest. My immediate focus is on getting my foot healed (right or wrong, i cancelled my podiatry appt), and getting through this next oral surgery (Thursday, yikes!). I'm still debating whether or not to take a class this summer or wait until fall. Life goes on even as it changes...