There are no words....(all evidence to the contrary ;)

Hi blog family! As most of you know, this is a very big week for my family as the love of my life graduated from high school last night and is heading off to college in the fall! My son Ryan has indeed made my life fulfilling in ways I never even dreamed possible; so much so that I must take this opportunity to say thank you to any and everyone with whom I interacted in my life that led to me becoming the mother of this amazing person as I believe that everything that happens to an individual is necessary and comes together to lead them to wherever it is they wind up. As I watch Ryan begin to make his own dreams come true in much the same way he has brought so many of my dreams to fruition I am both amazed and astonished.

With a son like Ryan, I am very used to witnessing wonderful spectacles, even so, I was still knocked off my feet by this...

I thought I was prepared, because this was a long time in coming. However, to actually hear the name I chose for him more than 18 years ago be called and subsequently watch him walk across that stage so strong and proud of himself, almost brought me to my knees. Another young man in his graduating class who is one half of a set of twins is being treated for brain cancer which is considered to be terminal in this case. As his twin brother helped him up the stairs to receive his diploma, I felt as if the breath had been stolen from my body as I realized how truly blessed I am to have a son who is not only graduating high school, but who also is in great health as well. My heart went out to this young man's mother as every cell in my body withered at the thought that such a thing could happen to someone's "RYAN". Once again I realized that though acknowledging and appreciating our children's accomplishments is very important, it is so much more critical that we acknowledge and appreciate our children themselves...after all, THEY are the true gift!

With the ceremony over and the Graduation Party & 4th Annual Memorial Day Weekend "Remember When..." Picnic still on the horizon for next Sunday (all my blog family is welcome so consider yourself officially invited and shoot me an email for the particulars if you will be/are in the St. Louis vicinity on Sunday, May 25th) I have tons to do. I have already purchased and begun to clean the more than 600 pounds of meat for the bar-b-que which my brother-in-law Gary will make happen at my house on Saturday. I will be hand forming close to 120 hamburgers and grilling up more than 300 bratwurst and hotdogs before this is all over. The house is clean and ready for the onslaught of more than 250 of our favorite everyday people and by Friday evening, the yard around my house will look like a back-in-the-day old skool picnic wonderland! The party begins at 2pm and doesn't end until the last guest decides to go home (and if you know my family, you know that could take days!). The dee-jays have been contracted and will begin to spin their magical spells around 5pm with shift changes so the music never stops! Games like horse shoes, washers, and volleyball will be played by the teens and adults while sack races, three-legged races, and hula-hoop contests and the such will be enjoyed by the babies and some young at heart grown folk too I'm sure. Somewhere up in all this activity, there will be card tables set up to accommodate games of Bid Whist, Spades, Tonk, and Dominos (a.k.a. BONES for you die-hards), and my brother Dee (who is doing wonderfully well with his kidney) will be dealing up a friendly game of Black Jack for those who might be interested. Last but not least, the bartenders (a.k.a. my sister Jackie and my pal Mark) will be serving up delectable libations such as Desert Pear Margaritas and Appletini's, Original and Strawberry Margaritas, and just about any other concoction you can come up with at the bar which will be fully stocked with beer and premium liquors and up and running throughout! So if indeed you are in the neighborhood, do stop in!

Now back to the real subject of this post while the glow of watching my life's miracle make miracles of his own is still all over me!

Me and Ryan stylin' and profilin' following his high school graduation ceremony!

My babyboy...oops!, scratch that, my babyMAN will be attending college next fall where he will work towards taking his awesome talents as an artist (cartoons and computer graphics/animation) to a whole other level.

(Sample of one of Ryan's Computer Graphic Cartoons)

Of course those of you who stop by here regularly know that this post could go on for the next week or so if I don't exercise some self-control (something of which I have very little when it comes to extolling the glories of being this young man's mother ;), so I'll wrap by saying this...

"Though I have done many things in my life of which I am quite openly proud, they ALL pale in comparison to having mothered this manchild. His high school graduation represents his own ability to make things happen for himself and allows me the opportunity to burst with pride over the fact that I had a hand in creating and raising to manhood an individual who is not afraid to go out into the world and do just that...make things happen! THIS IS HIS ACCOMPLISHMENT, something I make a point of making sure he knows. However, I also hope he knows how very special I feel to be allowed to share his joy as he begins to discover for himself what I have known since the day he was born and that is that he is well on his way to becoming THE SPECTACULAR MAN he was always pre-destined to be ;)

It'll be quiet around here for a few but I promise those of you who can't attend one spectacular picture video montage of all the festivities once they are over!

Gone and sing it for me now Stevie...