It's been a long time / Since I've seen your smiling face / It's been a long time

Three years in fact.

So where the gang is these days...

The eldest is just about through her bachelor's at UMBC after switching majors two or three times and landing in math. If there was any hope of another generation of engineers it was with her, but it was not to be. Well, math is part of the "STEM" acronym, so, I guess that makes it close to following in dear mom's footsteps.

Middle kid is loving life in her second year at what is probably the most unique school she could have chosen - St. John's College. I'm a little envious of going to a school that focuses on original thinking and hard work and is such a perfect fit for her.

My special guy is sporting a goatee and mustache somehow. Not so little. He's the only one who's still in the system, and even though he's a junior in high school, I think we've got another four and a half years (the year he turns 21) until we can say adios to City Schools.

Being a parent to a special needs kid in BCPSS is certainly about running a marathon and not a sprint. Marathon sounds a little too pristine though. Maybe one of those races where they slog through pits of mud and things randomly come out of the wall and punch you - like Wipeout. I think our first IEP meeting was about 12 years ago. I've got to do a quantitative analysis post some day where I count the hours and dollars and all the rest that have invested in my guy over the years. We're always in there, advocating for what is legally his due, no doubt coming across as "*That* Parent".

photo of a long path through leafless trees with a boy and dog ahead

And me? For some crazy reason, I thought it would be a good idea to finally get that master's degree that my job is willing to pay for. I've got to be twice the average age of students in the program. It's fairly exhausting between classes, homework and a job that, when you include drive time, takes up about 54hrs a week of my time. Right now, I'm one year through a five year program. I guess that means that I'll finish up my masters at the same time that my youngest is done with City Schools.

In it for the long haul...damn good thing I'm as stubborn as I am.