This is my son.

He is brilliant, kind and called a shot in 12th grade, “I’m going to New York City”.

Without anywhere to live, without enough money and without knowing anyone, off he went. What the kid had was a heart. The size of the Empire State.

He called enough so I knew he was alive – and we worked at getting into school after a gap year.

This trip to see him draped in purple was for the record books. My mom, daughter and I took on the city he loved and we made it there. Planes, trains, automobiles and ferries. I will never forget it.

I was in tears for most of the event. It was pride, relief and, most importantly, watching this diverse group of excellence commence, it was hope. The future is bright my friends, hope is all around us.

Our job is not to make our kids become what we want them to be. The things that set them on fire, that’s for them to choose. They feed what they love. And they burn. They are fire. They are hope. They are change. And then the world can dance in their light. What a great weekend dancing in his light.

New York’s state motto is Excelsior, just like the name of our hometown, which in Latin means Ever Upward. Seems about right.

Be Your Own JoyMaster. xoxoxoxo Lisa