Published Tuesday, April 22, 2008 5:41 PM
Updated Tuesday, April 22, 2008 5:42 PM

 

Priest's Confessions 04/23/08

The baby bird leaves the nest…


It’s an amazing thing to see your children blossom into adults before your very eyes.

I feel like my daughter’s life is on fast forward at times.

She was a good student but she never particularly liked school.

She saw it as a means to an end.

She started working when she was 15 years old, much to my dismay. I wanted her to concentrate on school. She wanted to earn money.

She insisted on working 30 plus hours a week during high school and college.

She’s always been a wiz with money. I co-signed on a 5-year car loan when she was in high school and 17 years old. She paid the loan off in three and a half years with no help from me.

She recently graduated from college with her accounting degree. She determined that getting her degree as fast as she could would get her working and earning more money quicker.

So, she took extra classes in order to obtain said degree in three and a half years. Most of her classmates are on the five-year program, having changed majors at least once.

Not my baby though. She knew what she wanted and how to get there.

After graduation, she applied for jobs in this area because she’s always wanted to live near the coast and the beach. Living with her mom again was just an added bonus, I guess.

She landed a good job with a great company in Goose Creek.

She is up before 6:00 every day and, believe me, she is not a morning person.

Now she is house hunting. At the age of 21. She thinks renting is a waste of money.

Most 40 year olds I know still haven’t found themselves but she has.

She’s applied and been accepted to a MBA program which she plans on obtaining at night while working full-time days.

She’s engaged to be married next year to a wonderful young man.

It seems like yesterday that I was holding her in my arms and praying for a good life for her. And she has it.

Nothing has been handed to her. She has earned every bit of her good life. And I am as proud of her as I can be.

Bachelor’s degree: check. Living near coast: check. Good job: check. Loving fiancé: check. MBA and house on the way: check. Proud parents: priceless.