Tuition

     I made our final tuition payment yesterday although I did not frame it in that way in my mind until after I had talked to our younger daughter. It feels good to know that we are in the last of the deadline-filled, stress inducing years and onto something hopefully more relaxing, wider in scope: The Next Chapter. Whether that means further education, finding that elusive job or a gap year of travel, we are pleased with where our daughter is in her life. University years have matured her, made her more resilient and broadened her skills. Dormitory life and then life with roommates has also opened her eyes and shaped her values. We are immensely proud of the adult person our youngest has become over the last five years. It’s such a formative, shape-shifting period and she navigated it with grace and intelligence while also maintaining a terrific long-distance relationship with a wonderful young man. And her marks were good! That is not to say that there weren’t hurdles and challenges; there were some terrible difficulties. But she made it and is still pursuing her last semester with the same energy as she did her first.
   She has also supported herself financially throughout this entire experience except for tuition and I am thrilled that she will start her next phase without any student loan debt hanging over her. It's a luxury that none of us have taken for granted! We were fortunate to have been able to put that money away when the girls were babies and to have family help as well. So not only will it be a new chapter for her, it will be a new one for all of us. And we are thankful, so grateful for all of our blessings, her being one of many....