When they graduate.

A couple of days ago we were celebrating the high graduation of the daughter of one of my best friends. She's an amazing student who graduated with honors. She's a delightful young woman who is in a dance troop and has been for years, she's a sweet person, she's headed to college and I think she has a good head on her shoulders. Her graduation was a celebration of who she's become as she's matured into a really terrific person. 
As I watched her sit on the stage, smiling, I got to thinking about my own childrens' graduations and how celebratory it will be, but possibly for different reasons. I'm sure we'll be proud of the young adult humans they grow into, but on this day I was thinking about all of the other things I might be thinking that day, presumably 5 years and 7 years in the future. 
I will be grateful to the care team that kept them alive to see that day, especially the doctor that helped save my son from suicide. 
I will be grateful to the kidney donors that each gave a kidney so my son could get off living on a machine and help make sure my daughter didn't need one. 
I might be grateful for another kidney donor, in the event one or both of their bodies reject their kidney or I could be grateful for a dialysis machine for keeping them alive. 
I will be grateful they survived high school without needing liver transplants. 
I will be grateful that we had resources and scholarships that allow them to attend a small, private school for kids with special needs. 
I will be grateful for the therapists that allowed my kids a safe place to discuss the stresses in their lives, helping them navigate their differences with confidence. 
I will be grateful to family and friends who have helped us get to that day by supporting us in many tangible and intangible ways throughout the years. 
I will be grateful the kids will have enough stamina, strength, and perseverance to have survived all they have with their confidence and hope for the future intact. 
I will be grateful they are alive.  -----------
Julia lives in Georgia amongst grits and diet coke, her husband and two kids who have had kidney transplants, will require liver transplants one day and who has learning disabilities and mental illness. She blogs at Kidneys and Eyes and is the co-founder of Support for Special Needs.