they made it!

yesterday.

my little brothers-in-law or brother-in-laws (twins) graduated from high school.

yes, high school,

and no i'm not 20. haha.

there is an 11 year age difference between jason and his little brothers....

yes they were planned, and no there was no IVF involved.

nuts, right?

anyway.....

yesterday.

yesterday they both graduated high school.

2 different schools.

2 different graduations.

one in the morning.

one in the afternoon.

i'll give a quick rundown.

from my father's day post, you probably noticed that i said Steve (Father-in-law) has been raising the kids for many years.... Marion (my mother in law) passed away in 2001. Jason was 20, but the twins were just 9 years old when she passed.

Jason stepped up big time and helped take care of them too.

(FIL getting the boys ready for their prom)

so when yesterday came, of course i felt emotional.

i was SO proud of them for graduating....

for making it all the way through....

i feel more motherly than sisterly....

with extended family (heck, even with your own blood family) you try to find your role with them.

although i am their sister in law, i feel more motherly towards them....

of course i want what's best for them!

absolutely hands down, i want what's best for them now and what will be best for them in the long run.

but who am i to come into their lives after years of it being a certain way, and try to change it?

anyway, one of the high schools was in san juan capistrano (a bit south of us).

i'm not racist or prejudice by any means, so please do not feel offended when i say that the graduating class was dominated by hispanics. Many of the families only spoke spanish....

i was filllled with emotions, and literally wore my sunglasses the entire time, even though it was overcast and i could have done without them.

How proud they must be to have their children graduating high school!

There were air horns, presents and balloons everywhere....

(side note: Lewie HATES air horns.... and when one goes off, he is bound and determined to let everyone hear him OVER the air horn, so beware. you WILL become an enemy to Lewie (and myself) if you blow an air horn close enough for him to hear)

As we were leaving the graduation, there was an older man, (who i had seen sitting in the back at the graduation earlier), walking ahead of us.... he walked up to his truck.

it was a pickup truck....

filled with all the tools needed to care for lawns.

a lawnmower.

edger.

rakes.

brooms.

shovels.

and on and on and on.....

he'd walked around his truck, checking to ensure everything was there.

IMMEDIATELY, i looked over at jason and made a sad face.

he started laughing.

he KNEW,

he just KNEW i was crying....

he said, "awww momma...."

i SERIOUSLY started crying....

here this guy was....

taking time out of his day,

(time is money, you know?)

to come to his son or daughter's high school graduation.....

only to come BACK to his truck to ensure nothing was stolen from his truck while he watched the ceremony,

to then go back to work,

mowing lawns.

Ahhhhhhhhh! (yes, ah, not aw. Ah, to fight the tears!)

Jason's logical, sense-talking side then chimes in, "he's probably stoked his kid graduated! probably hopes for such good things for them, you know? everyone's looking for happiness in this world mama. everyone wants the same one thing for their kids.... happiness."

and he's still laughing at me, because i'm totally crying over this guy who probably doesn't even want to be cried over....

i have SUCH a high respect for people who work their butts off.... the ones who wake up super early every single morning, work their tails off allllll day, every single day, come home late at night, only to wake up early and do the same thing again. ALL without complaining.... and for what? because they want to provide for their family. they want to provide for their family, and they want a better life than they've ever had before....

every time i drive up the 133 (it's a beautiful road that leads to the ocean by our house), i pass this dirt section with an old wooden gate.... there are usually TONS of laborers standing around, under trees, waiting for work....

and EVERY single time i pass there, i wish i was rich.... i wish that i could just go and hand all of them hundreds of dollars and send them on their way.... because they're all there, waiting for us to use them to do ANY kind of work we have (usually hard, crappy work).... they all just wait around.... and what happens if no one needs them for the day? what happens then? do they go home to their families empty-handed? do they have food to eat that night? or was this day's work and pay needed to feed them?

and then you have folks, who complain about their job.... ugh.

back to the boys graduating....

i KNOW how proud Steve (FIL) was to see them graduate....

i know how proud Jason was too.

heck, i know how proud IIII was, and they aren't even mine!

the bittersweet kicks in when i know how happy Marion (MIL)would have been too.

to see her boys walk in their caps and gowns.... to throw their hats up in the air with the rest of the graduating class....

to be done with high school and move on to bigger things....

and we sat in the grass, back in the corner, with the sun beating down on us,

watching the boys talk about all the things that are to come....

and i couldn't help but to think that maybe she was behind just a glimmer of that sunshine yesterday....

smiling down on her boys, for making it through.....

(Shane & Steven-yes twins!)

Congrats boys!!!