I just found this really clever blog post on what it is like to be married to a student. I laughed out loud; it is so very true. I nearly cried; I am so incredibly relieved that we are on this side of graduation. This past summer when we were at the Faith Builders College Student Workshop, I remarked to an elderly gentleman that we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. He smiled sagely and said, “You just hope it’s not the light from an approaching train.” Yeah, right. (I wonder if Gabe may have talked to him about going on to get his Bachelor’s…)
I think I had graduation tricked out in my mind as the magic portal through which we step, and everything that is less than ideal in our lives will immediately be fixed. Better job, more money, fewer crazy part-time hours at work, more time with the family, less stress, better health, instant happiness unmixed with ickiness. I mean, I am a realist, so I know that isn’t the way things work, but I wasn’t prepared for how utterly weary Gabe and I both felt. Very tired people aren’t always the most rational people. Nor did I expect a sort of identity crises. He knows how to be a student, I know how to support a student (sort of). Now we have to find a new normal, and it is not unlike the adjustment time after you have a baby. Just what do you do with a weekend when you don’t have to study? Can anybody remember how that looks? 🙂 And Children, for goodness sakes, take your quarrels to your father! Oh, yes, let’s all go to bed at the same time again, shall we?
So, just in case you think we are all hunky-dory over here, and its all glitter and stardust, I will just say, “Yes. And no.” But it is good.
wocket in my pocket 
Congratulations on your husband’s graduation. It’s interesting and helpful to read someone else’s experience following graduation. By the way, my husband does remember you from Ukraine. From your other posts, it looks like both our husbands and our sons share a name (although my husband doesn’t like to be called Gabe… :)). Anyway, it’s interesting to make that connection. Thanks for the link and the comment.
Why, sure enough, you have a Gregory! Nice choice on the name. 🙂 We rarely meet other Gregorys or Gabriels. (His parents still never call him Gabe, and neither did his school students, back in the day. But the rest of us do. ) How much longer until your husband graduates?