Celebrating Grace’s UVU Graduation

Two weeks ago Grace officially graduated from Utah Valley University with a degree in communications. Her college graduation celebration was unconventional because not a single one of us was there to see it — including Grace herself.

When Life Doesn’t Pause for the Big Moments

You see, we had planned a trip over a year ago, long before we knew how her college timeline was going to work out. And I’m realizing again and again that sometimes life doesn’t pause for the moments we most want to mark.

In fact we haven’t been able to attend any of our five college graduate’s ceremonies (including in-laws). Elle, Carson and Abby all graduated smack-dab in the middle of COVID. And Max, who took the slower road having two babies before he finished those last two pesky classes, gave me a slow smile when I begged him to please walk for graduation. A smile that said it all: he loved me but he wasn’t going to do that.

But of course, a diploma doesn’t need a ceremony to mean something.

And this brand new graduate of mine deserves every bit of celebrating I can give her, ceremony or not.

As I watched her walking toward me while I was taking her graduation photos a couple months ago, I stopped in my tracks. I marveled at how this baby girl of mine has become such a glowing woman.

A woman with the perfect combination of humility and self-assurance.

And I am still trying to catch my breath as Dave and I take yet another step in the long line of learning to let go of our children in every different stage of life.

The Journey That Built Her

This college graduation is the culmination of so many big and little steps toward becoming who she wants to be. Isn’t it so interesting to think of all the baby steps that make an adult?

The performances:

The sports:

Learning how to be a friend:

The beginnings of learning how to work.

It makes me a bit emotional to think of all that time that has gone by.

The gift of all that time I’ve had to learn to lead and guide her.

And the gift that she is now my teacher on so many things.

Especially how to have pizazz:)

Yes, there’s a myriad of so many steps along the way to get to this graduation:

• Living in China for a formative semester — Grace spent her first semester of 8th grade as a student in an international school in China when we lived there. She learned to gather friends from all different cultures and was pushed in all new ways.
• Student council in high school — She served in the student council for three years in high school.
• A high school summer in China — Grace spent the summer of her sophomore year teaching English in China.
• Another high school summer doing the “impossible” — She was needed last-minute to take over some teaching in China once again, and it was SO hard, but forged such amazing avenues for her to dig deep and become
• High school graduation — Oh man, these things are always so emotional for me!
• Starting college in Hawaii — Grace followed in Elle’s footsteps and started college in Hawaii…until COVID shut it down a month or two early.
• A mission – Then she was brave enough to turn in her mission papers in the midst of the instability of COVID. That was a journey in and of itself!
• A reassignment of that mission – Because of COVID she was reassigned from Uruguay to Austin, Texas. It was a little “inconvenience” that became one of her biggest blessings.
• Transferring from BYU Hawaii to UVU – Folloing her mission, Grace transferred to UVU and fell in love with that place that has taught her so much.

Each one of those steps was its own mountain. Some were chosen, some were unexpected, some turned her life in directions none of us anticipated. But looking at her now — this glowing, humble, self-assured woman I adore — I can see every single one of them written on her face.

That’s what a journey does. It shows up in who you become.

As we watched that graduation ceremony from the air I felt so grateful for the specifically unique journey of Grace’s.

The failures along with the triumphs.

And how much she’s learned along the way.

Congratulations Grace — Here’s to What’s Next

Grace is off to all kinds of good things. For now she’s loving being an ultrasound tech woman and sticking around in Utah, but it will be fun to see where her next step takes her!

She didn’t just graduate from college. She graduated from about a hundred other things first — and every single one of them created part of that sparkly girl you see up there.

Love you forever, Jam!

It’s been an amazing ride, can’t wait to see how the next chapter unfolds!