The 2015-16 school year is the last year for which I will know exactly what I am missing out on with Bethany and Katie. After that, it’s all speculation. But this year I am very much aware that Katie did not have senior pictures taken by LifeTouch as Bethany and Gracen did the summer before the start of their senior year. I am intensely aware that I will not be dropping Katie off for the first day of her final year of high school.

I know my heart will ache as homecoming and prom roll around and then the big kicker as both Katie and Bethany should be celebrating graduation next spring – one from high school, one from college.

Just one more year before the big blur occurs because there will be no more previously scheduled events for either Bethany or Katie after May 2016.

This year will be a challenge for me. Although it is hard to watch other young people do what Bethany and Katie will not, In some ways it’s nice to know exactly what they are missing. Actually, it’s just better than the void that follows.