Almost Done

My daughter once said, "It will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end." It was April 2001 and we were in Boston. I liked what she said so much that I wrote it down.

I am going to reflect that thought back to her today as she celebrates her completion of family medicine residency, although there are still weeks of actual work to go.

I don't remember the exact details of the situation we were talking about in 2001. She was finishing her third year of college. Something wasn't working out, and she was trying to figure out why.

I remember that life seemed complicated at that moment. There was no way to know that life would become more complicated and less forthcoming with answers and endings.

In the last nine years I have learned that there are not always specific beginnings and endings. There are evolutions and progressions. One thing leads to another. We come to new ways of thinking and doing, and we get wiser as we go along.

Today is not the end, dear daughter. It is one more step along the way. Looking back it's difficult to see how you got to this point because the path was steep and full of turns.

I know it's hard to see what's ahead because it's foggy and the path is unsure.

Take it one step at a time. You will find your footing.

You have come so far and accomplished so much. Celebrate that today.

I love you.