He grew up

When did this happen?

Sometime next week, when I get my act together, I’ll be posting a new photo on my Web site (www.jacquelinediamond.com). It features a handsome, dark-haired young man and a short, beaming woman (me). Oh, one more thing. The gorgeous guy is wearing a cap and gown.

Must be trick photography. The truth is, he’s seven years old, it’s the last day of second grade and I can’t find him amid the swarms of children eagerly rushing toward vacation. Finally, around the side of the school’s main building, I discover my precious little bear bawling his head off, with a friend’s worried mom keeping watch over him until I show up.

You see what I mean? If I’m not there to hold his hand, he might get lost.

Only … he’s twenty-two years old. He just graduated after four years at Vanderbilt University with, incredibly, not one but two degrees. The first is a B.S. in computer science and math. The second is an M.S. in computer science. This is the result of working his tail off for eight years, completing half his undergrad work while still in high school and spending late nights meeting the requirements of an accelerated masters program. After his first free summer since junior high, he starts work next fall at his dream job with Google.

How can this be? When did he grow up?

Wait! There was one moment, as we celebrated his graduation with my parents and other relatives, when I mentioned that I didn’t plan to cook much this summer. For just a moment, a look of utter childlike dismay flashed across his face. There! The seven-year-old was back.

Okay, so it takes the prospective loss of Mom’s lasagna and homemade, garden-grown minestrone soup to bring out the lost little boy, and then only for a millisecond. But he’s still there.

What a relief! Although now I won’t be able to avoid cooking like a fiend all summer, it will be worth it.