Tuesday afternoon at 2:30, I watched my son Aaron march out of high school and into the world. What will he do? Who will he be?

He is a man already. He drives. He works. He decides. There are few people as honest as he is, whether the question is “did you spill this soda on the carpet?” or “does this dress look good on me?” He says what he really thinks, even if it is not a popular opinion. He commits. He keeps his word. He looks out for his family and friends. Okay, so sometimes he doesn’t notice things. (We all still tease him about the fact that he didn’t notice that his aunt was going to have a baby even when she was 9 months along and wider than she was tall.) He focuses on other things.

When he was younger, cousins and family friends and even sometimes his siblings would bicker over who got to sit next to him. I can see why.