A favorite quote which our family tries to live by: “You can’t shape the road for your child, but you can shape your child’s legs for the journey.” I am grateful that this principle steered us as parents, teaching us how to raise our sons with hope, strength, and dignity. So often, we as parents want to remove the obstacles of life from our children’s path, instead of teaching them how to face them. “Strengthening our child’s legs for the road, instead of the road for the child”, is what has made them strong. Just as the butterfly struggles free from the cocoon, (a process which builds strength in its wings to fly), our children learn to climb steep hills up and over life challenges through the process of struggle as well.

Our sons, Jason and Kevin, are now 32 and 21 years olds, respectively. Today, they are young men with character, shaped by the roads they have traveled. Their paths have been steep and treacherous at times, (one’s path of drug abuse, the other’s path of health challenges), but they have reached their own mountain top of faith, confident and strong. We release them now as they continue on their path, one to Italy, the other to South Bay. Godspeed, my sons!