Milestones

My son is graduating High School tomorrow and I am in such a reflective mood. I remember so clearly what a precocious little guy he was when he was so small. I use to call him my smurf as he'd run as if the wind gave him wings and he could fly or he already was and no one else could tell.
I see the young man that he's becoming and how difficult it was to transition for him. I would tuck both my daughter and son in at bedtime. My son and I would do our rendition of the movie, The Last Emperor where he would say to me, his mom, "You are my butterfly". I recall pointing up to the sky at bedtime when the stars were all out and finding the north star. I would tell him that no matter what, that was our star and no matter where we were if we looked for that star we'd be together.
We had some very difficult times indeed. The adolescent years of teenage angst. After awhile came girls and trends and of course, "can you loan me some money?"
Tomorrow though I'll look at him as the man he is and not the boy he was. Tomorrow is his day and he earned it. I will always have those memories no matter how distant they are in time, in my heart they are a stones throw away. But, tomorrow I will say good bye to my little man and hello to my forever son.