
by black_samvara via flickr
Last night, I took three small children out into a large crowd of people, by myself.
There aren’t too many things I would be willing to do that for, but last night was worth it. Last night, I took my kids to watch their daddy walk across a stage and receive his diploma. After 3 years of hard work and sacrifice, he earned his Associates Degree in Automotive Technologies.
Chris worked very hard to minimize the effect that the last few years had on the kids. Between school and work, he routinely put in 12hour days, 6 days a week. And, in the impossibly small amount of time left over in his week, he made sure to carve out time to spend with the kids.
I could have left the children with a babysitter, but frankly, they deserved to be there. Especially the older two. While Chris certainly deserves the majority of the credit for what he accomplished, it was definitely a group effort. We’ve all had to put Chris’ schooling first, and I know that sometimes it was hard for the kids to understand why, exactly we had to do that. They deserved the chance to hear their daddy’s name called, and to watch him walk across that stage.
And that moment when Chris’ name was called last night; that moment when our children stood up and clapped so hard for their daddy, that moment was one of those times where you feel your heart swell with emotion and love until you think you are going to choke on it. I could not have been any prouder of what Chris has accomplished than I was at that moment.
Thank you, Chris, for what you gave up to do this. And thank you for letting us be a part of it, too.
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