Geoffrey's Graduation

I’ve heard that when death is near, a person’s life flashes before their eyes. I don’t know about that; however, I know that when a child graduates, moments from their past are replayed in my mind. It happened again this week when my son, Geoffrey, earned his degree from Loyola University’s College of Law.
Throughout the day of his graduation, I remembered conversations from the past that were clues to his future. At the age of four, during a visit to the state capitol in Baton Rouge, Geoffrey said, “I want to work here.” For the next several months, he insisted on wearing a suit and tie for church, social events, and the photo which still sits on my desk.
Another voice from the past, one belonging to Geoffrey’s third grade teacher, echoed loudly in my mind as I pressed his graduation gown. “He’s going to be a lawyer,” Mrs. Muriel Louque said. “Before Geoffrey asks a question or informs me of a situation, he states the facts, and presents his case.”
Beginning in sixth grade, Geoffrey would read the paper, and want to discuss court cases that were in the news. His love of the law and desire for justice were not reserved for current events, but first applied in the home to issues of rules, curfews, and arguments with siblings. The conflicts that arose among his four sisters have given him years of mediation experience.
These memories mixed with so many more as I watched Geoffrey walk out of the auditorium at the conclusion of the graduation ceremonies. My father leaned over and said, “He walks like Michael.” I smiled and agreed. Geoffrey shares not only his father’s physical features, but many of his mannerisms. As he walks into his future, I pray that Geoffrey will hold onto the values that he learned from his Dad.
In addition, I pray that Geoffrey, and your children, too, daily reflect and rightly represent their Heavenly Father. May every decision be made in submission to God, Who, according to Ephesians 3:20, “is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."