Just left my stepson's commencement and thought I would post one of my favorite poems and wish all the grads good luck. Saw at least one Kitmaker Network member there but he was busy turning his tassle...

Shaun

Rudyard Kipling
If

"If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!"

Congratulations to your stepson, and the unknown tassel tosser.

I hope your stepson enjoys that new Porsche you promised him upon graduation.

Alternate Words 'If'

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs - maybe you've misread the situation!!!

Congrats to the graduates.

Andy

My stepdaughter graduated a couple weeks ago. She will commute to college in Louisville, at least until we move. Then she will either move on campus or commute from her grandma's house.

Such a relief to get the kids one step closer out the door.

Amen to THAT! My youngest (daughter) graduated from HS yesterday and is off to a college about 3 hours away in the fall to major in photography. Although graduation from HS doesn't really end your role as a "parent" (I'm still involved with my son and he's 31, married with a son himself, an LT(jg) in the Navy and a 4th year Med Student), but it does bring to a close almost 32 years of "parenting"

Think a trip to my LHS is in order to celebrate.

Tom