Nearly 19 years of school! Our safety net. A place for Zack to go every day. The blessedness of the short yellow bus picking him up at the end of the driveway. Now it’s over. It’s time for graduation. And I wonder, where has the time gone?

I feared this day. Dreaded it. Wondered what we would do after it came and went.

And once again, as so many times during this journey with my precious Z-man, I had nothing to worry about! The Lord always takes care of us. But this time, He went far beyond what I could have ever come up with!

I’ll tell about that in my next post, but for now I want to share these great photos of Mr. Z during his graduation from VOICE (the vocational transition program for our school district).

Zack with his teacher, Sarah.

Zack was so excited that he ran to the building when it was time for the ceremony. During “practice” he spoke his favorite phrase of the moment: “What the heck!” and had a good laugh with his teacher, Sarah.

But when it came to actually walking down the aisle, he was a bit shy. So Meaghan, his speech therapist, came and helped. (Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of her!)

There were five graduates, and each one had a slide show the teachers put together for them. It’s so fun to see them all as babies, young children, grade schoolers, adolescents, and now young adults. Especially because Zack has gone through every grade with some of them for the past 19 years! Amazing.

Here’s my guy with Joy (she-who-walks-on-water), the teacher/autism specialist who has known him since he was about 3 years old. Wow! We will miss her most of all! But I think I have her phone number, so I’m not panicking. Yet.

And at the end of every worthwhile graduation, there’s a party! Zack wolfed down his piece of cake, thoroughly enjoying it. Then he chose to come home with Jay and me instead of waiting for the bus to bring him.

If any of the many people who have touched our lives throughout these years of school for Zack are reading this, words cannot express how much you have blessed our family. You are my heroes. Truly. From the bus drivers who sang on the way to and from school, to the teachers who worked more hours than they ever should have to, to the aids who encouraged Zack every step of the way, to the specialists who brought their specific knowledge to the classroom, I am so thankful for all of you! I wish I had enough money to send you all to Hawaii!! Thank YOU from the bottom of my heart!