Our children have all slowly grown into young women and men on our farm. This spring, I have taken note of the growth spurts and the fact that they have bigger appetites for meals and snacks than ever before. This means extra trips to the grocery store and a lot of stocking up. Our oldest daughter is graduating from her high school this month. We have been busy getting things ready for a celebration with family and friends for the occasion.
This year I decided to get our garden planted early. I had bed sheets and empty milk containers ready just in case I needed to cover everything. In Arkansas, it is a bit of a risk because mother nature can sneak in a late frost. I wanted to plant all purple and white flowers in the flower baskets and pots all around our house. Those are our oldest daughter’s school colors. After searching every local nursery and big box store in the Fayetteville area, I was able to put together some beautiful flower combinations.
Once I got everything planted just the way I wanted it for the season, I checked the forecast and frost was predicted. The night before, our family loaded all the heavy pots onto a trailer and my husband backed it into the garage. I pulled down my hanging baskets and tucked them into the warm garage as well. We used old bed sheets, milk containers and lots of Tupperware to cover up plants in the garden. The frost came and went without any plant injury.
We have had some wonderful rain and sunshine, and everything seems to be flourishing. Our senior student finished school in early May, and we are all anticipating this next chapter of parenting adult children.
She has made plans to attend the University of Arkansas in August. She is planning to live on campus and take classes to study broadcast journalism. While we will miss having our whole family under one roof, we are excited to see her spread her wings into college life.
We have celebrated “Senior Sunday” looking at old photos of this child through the years to reminisce on her growing up. Our family laundry is no longer heaped in dirty jeans from digging in dirt piles and rolling in the grass – it’s smelly gym clothes from sports practices and greasy jeans from working alongside their dad in the shop. We have teenagers coming and going from our place on a regular basis. We have enjoyed the season for junior and senior prom and all the ups and downs that go along with having a senior in high school.
This generation of high school graduates have a wealth of opportunity laying on the road ahead of them. It’s been an interesting vantage point to watch from the sidelines as our oldest child makes big decisions for herself. We have been along to guide, but mostly we have been holding our breath and saying big prayers. This is what we have raised this little bird to do, fly.
The stage is set for closing the book on this part of child rearing for our oldest daughter. God bless the Class of 2024. Thank you for tagging along with us as we have raised our oldest child into her adulthood, neighbor.
Jody Harris is a freelance communications specialist, gardener, ranch wife and mother of four. She and her family raise Angus beef cattle and other critters on their northwest Arkansas ranch. She is a graduate of Missouri State University. To contact Jody, go to ozarksfn.com and click on ‘Contact Us.’
