A Roll-Acosta Life: Auntie Andy's Graduation!

The time had finally come to make our way to Virginia in order to watch Julian's sister, Andrea Sofia, graduate from high school. While Julian and I are just happy to be on vacation together, this is such a special occasion that we get to celebrate with his family.

Andy graduated from Stone Bridge High School, Class of 2013. She finished in the top 6% of her class and had more graduation cords than Julian and I combined! We were so excited to gather at the Patriot Center on the George Mason campus in order to watch her walk the stage.

Jilly was also very excited to see her "Auntie Auntie gra-choo-a-shun!"

It was a great commencement ceremony with lots of great speakers and sentimental moments. I have to admit, I may have cried (5 times) throughout the entire thing. While part of that was surely the pregnancy hormones, the others parts were a combination of reflection on the time I have known Andrea and remembering graduations in my life.

It's hard to believe I have known Andrea since she was in the 5th grade, and I have seen her blossom into the intelligent, hard-working young lady she is today.

Aside from the commencement itself, there has been plenty of time to celebrate this special time in Andrea's life. She had a party with her friends, a family celebration, Project Graduation, and a special cake celebration with her boyfriend, Gene.

Of course, Jillian got in on their fun, too!

Throughout it all, I have thought a lot about how quickly time flies. In watching Julian's mom go through the roller-coaster of emotions of watching her daughter accomplish so much and prepare to leave the home, I am reminded that someday, in the not too distant future, it will be me watching my daughter accomplish the same. It made me try just a little bit harder to sit back in the moment and appreciate the time that we have had with Jillian thus far. I have cherished the little things about her 2-year-old self because as much as this picture captures her as a toddler, it also reminds me that in 16 years, that toddler will be a teenager and the tassel hanging from her cap will read "2029."