A proud moment

It's not often that the blog spotlight is on my husband, Dougie - but today's post is all about him.

This is a very special week for him and I'm thrilled that we have reached it.  This week he graduates from university with a first class honours degree and I couldn't be prouder of all that he has achieved.

We knew that for him to return to full-time education as an adult, a married man, a father - was going to be hard work from the start.  Fitting in the required amount of effort, commitment, and study around family life was going to be testing at times and we prepared ourselves for it.  This decision impacted every area of our lives; we changed our lifestyle, we made our budget, we cut back on expenses where we could, we planned in time for each other and time for the children and we knuckled down to some hard work to pull it all together.

Studying and research fitted in along with all the other commitments my husband had.  At times things were difficult and he needed to prioritise or face stretching himself in too many directions.  He juggled and somehow kept all the plates spinning.

Then Daisy died just before his final year, his honours year, and our world stopped.

Everything we had planned and dreamed of and imagined fell apart in an instant and grieving made us question all that we were doing.

For Dougie that meant questioning his future.  Where was he going?  What was he doing?  What was the point in continuing?

He was at a low point and all he wanted to do was throw in the towel and hide from the world.

But he found the strength to brave the journey of life ahead.  A life without our daughter Daisy was not what we had planned.  But him achieving a degree in a subject he was passionate about was definitely what we had planned, and he managed to find the courage to continue.

The last 12 months has been such a rollercoaster of emotions for all of us, Dougie included.  He was grieving for Daisy and yet focusing ahead, working hard to keep on top of the demands of his honours year and to keep our family life going.  He is very, very good at what he does and despite the challenges, he never gave less than 100% effort to every aspect of his education.

The final pieces of work were submitted, the final presentations were given, the final deadlines were met.  He had done everything he could.  I was already proud of him for his commitment and his success, no matter what the final mark would be.

To find out that he had not only passed, but achieved first class honours, was such a proud moment.  It was the recognition he needed for all his effort and determination during the darkest of times.

This week we'll celebrate that achievement at a graduation ceremony and it will be such an emotional moment for me.  I always knew that he could do it and I believed in him even when we were consumed in the saddest of days.  I'm looking forward to seeing him accept his certificate with pride - and I'll be bursting with pride myself.

Well done!!!!