Summer Begins

I recently took our daughter, our baby, shopping for summer clothes at Forever 21, which is a hit or miss venture.  This particular visit was all hit, and the pile of great stuff at ridiculously low prices kept growing.  "OK," I said.  "This is more than I planned on.  This is going to be your graduation present."  Maxie continued to nose around while I was watching the salesman tally our goods at the register.  "Happy Graduation," I called to her as I handed him the credit card.

"Is she graduating from college?" he asked.

"No!" I responded as if he were crazy.

"Is she already out of college?" he pressed.

"NO!" I practically shouted.  "She's only 16!"

It took a moment to correct myself.  "Wait, she's only 13!"

Today, driving home from the beach, a celebration of the first day of summer, I looked back at my girl, just days away from leaving Middle School.

Graduating from college?  Hmmm.  Guess it's an easy mistake.